


Adventures of a Family (OLD)

by Ausomerus



Series: Nailmasters and Vessels [2]
Category: Hollow Knight (Video Games)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Bad Parenting, Blood and Gore, Broken Bones, Dehumanization, Dreams, Emotional Constipation, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Emotional Repression, Emotional/Psychological Abuse, Everyone Needs A Hug, Fix-It of Sorts, Fluff, Found Family, Gen, Groundings, HC: Wastelands make bugs become less civil for a while, Healthy Coping Mechanisms, Hopefully improved, Hurt/Comfort, I edited the tags instead of sleeping, I mean Mato's dealt with [SPOILERS], I say benefit but I mean they all most likely need therapy, I think everyone in this fic could benefit from therapy, I'm Sorry, Injury, Injury Recovery, It Gets Worse Before It Gets Better, Mato probably puts unrealistic expectations on himself, Molting bugs, Nightmares, Self-Harm, Some are having a worse time, Some characters are having a bad time, The Pale King Being an Asshole (Hollow Knight), The Pale King is a Bad Parent (Hollow Knight), The Pale King is not a good father figure, The children have PTSD, Unhealthy Coping Mechanisms, good parenting, headcannons galore!, someone gets sick, this is a rewrite, throwing up
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-01-07
Updated: 2020-08-23
Packaged: 2021-02-27 07:15:05
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 70
Words: 45,745
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22163164
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ausomerus/pseuds/Ausomerus
Summary: A rewrite of my "Nailmasters and Vessels" fanfic.  Update:  I'm rewriting it again. Not too sure why since it'll probably take forever to rewrite everything (plus stuff will most likely change).  :/
Relationships: Cornifer & OC (Hollow Knight, Nailmaster Mato & Nailmaster Oro & Nailmaster Sheo & Sly (Hollow Knight), OC & Nailmaster Mato, OC & Nailmaster Oro, OC & Nailmaster Sheo, OC & Siblings, OC & Sly, OC & The Pale King, The Last Stag & OC
Series: Nailmasters and Vessels [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1696420
Comments: 31
Kudos: 91





	1. I Don't Want to Hurt You (But You Don't Feel That Way About Me)

Crystal walked into the arena, the white light reflecting off of the floor, reminding her of her father’s robes. She continued looking forward as one of her siblings walked into view on the other side of the arena. She pushed down her emotions as she saw her sibling draw a nail from their cloak. Their horns curved with two horns protruding from the inner sides of their horns. She heard the tell-tale footsteps of their shared father, the Pale King, as he walked over to the chair where he would watch. She calmly awaited instruction.  


“Vessels, upon my order, you are to spar with one another. If either of you disagree, you shall come with me. You shall fight until one of you is going to be put out of commission for a few days.”  


Crystal suppressed an urge to nod. Her sibling didn’t have to suppress a nod, as they hadn’t received an order to nod. Crystal heard the royal, yet stern voice of their father.  


“Spar.”  


Crystal drew her nail as she rushed her sibling. She weakened the blow she would deal at the last second. She hoped that wouldn’t raise suspicions from her father. Crystal felt something cold and smooth slice through her abdomen. She doubled over as immense, searing pain in her abdomen flooded her senses. She fell to the floor as she mentally screamed in pain. She barely registered the pain from falling face-first into the floor.  


She saw the ground rapidly get pulled away from her. She looked around, her father’s robes barely visible out of the corner of her eye. She heard someone speak.  


“My King, what will you do with it?”  


Crystal knew the answer, she had seen it happen. Vessels that were imperfect, they would disappear. They were never seen again. Her father’s voice snapped her out of her thoughts. He sounded angry and disgusted.  


“It’s a failure. I’m getting rid of it.”  


She struggled in his grasp as he walked into a nearby hallway. She felt a sharp blow to her face as he stopped in front of a door with a strange engraving on it. The Pale King spoke, voice stern.  


“Vessel, stop struggling. It was inevitable. Of course you were a failure, you couldn’t even hurt your own sibling to save your life. You’re worthless to me and this kingdom. Pathetic.”  


The engraving glowed as the Pale King raised his hand to a glowing tablet. Crystal glanced to the tablet, only seeing the name of the place she was being taken.  


“The Abyss.”  


The engraving on the door glowed for a moment before the door opened. The Pale King carried her into the room. Crystal heard the door slam closed behind her. She glanced around, hoping for a way to escape, or someone to rescue her. It was as black as night in the room, leading her to believe that even if someone was in the room, they wouldn’t save her. She watched as the walls got closer, before quickly rushing by her vertically.  


She realized she was falling. A thought ran through her mind as she hit the ground.  


“I deserve this.”


	2. Are You Nice? (Please Don't Hurt Me)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Crystal meets the Old Stag.

Crystal stood up. She rubbed the front of her mask as she saw something black snaking its way down her mask. She felt a piece where her mask had cracked. She felt around her mask. She pulled her hand away from her mask in alarm. A piece of her mask fell to the ground with a sickening crack as it shattered upon hitting the floor. She walked away, searching for a way out. She looked up, not seeing any way out at the bottom.

She saw a bright, white light at the very top. She thought to herself.

“If I stay here, I’ll die. Only one way to go.”

She hopped onto a nearby floating platform, quickly pulling herself over the edge. She noticed another platform close by. She figured that it was the way to go. Just to confirm her suspicions, she looked over the edge of the platform she was on.

The land below the platform was swallowed by the darkness of the room. She backed up in alarm, not wanting to fall by accident. She felt her foot slip over the edge.

She screamed as she lost her balance, tears flying above her as she fell. She thought to herself, panicking.

“I don’t want to die!”

She heard a loud snapping sound as she landed on her feet. She got up, trying to ignore the pain in her leg. She carefully jumped back up to the platform, wincing as her foot touched the ground. She sat down on the ground. She got a good look at her left leg. She started carefully rubbing her left leg.

After a bit, she got back up, being careful not to put too much pressure on her left leg. She looked to the next platform. She jumped to it, quickly pulling herself over the edge. She spotted the next platform. She quickly jumped to it. She laid on her back, breathing heavily. She thought to herself, surrounded by the darkness of the room.

“I refuse to die here.”

She carefully pushed herself off the ground. She looked to the next platform. The bright light that she had seen at the bottom was nearly blinding her. Her eyes adjusted quickly to the light, allowing her to see the next platform again. She ran as fast as she could, jumping to the platform. She pulled herself over the edge. She saw the light right above her. She jumped up, and pulled herself over the final hurdle in the room.

She looked into the room. She didn’t see anyone, so she snuck into the room. She could hear someone approaching. She quickly hid behind a crate. She saw her father, one of her siblings struggling in his grasp. The sibling’s horns curved, ending in two points. She could see the silent pleas for help in the sibling’s eyes as they locked eyes.

She felt a pang of guilt as she turned away from her sibling. She spotted the doorway to the White Palace. She quickly, and silently ran outside. She noticed a sign with some sort of beetle to her left. She headed to her left.

She was greeted by the sight of an old beetle of some sort. The beetle noticed her as she hid from it. The beetle spoke, a tinge of sadness in his voice.

“Hello, little one. Do you wish to go somewhere?”

Crystal stepped out of her hiding spot at the mention of going somewhere else. She wanted to leave this place, and never return. Crystal nodded. The beetle gasped before speaking.

“Excuse me, but I forgot to introduce myself. I’m the Last Stag, but you may call me ‘Stag’.”

Crystal nodded as Stag started to travel into the darkness. Crystal hugged herself, trying to stay calm.

Stag slowed to a stop. He felt despair and fear encompass him as memories and thoughts flowed into his head. In a different part of Stag’s consciousness, he thought to himself.

“Is the child in my mind?”

The memories and thoughts forced themselves into the front of his mind.

“Father, please! Please come back! I’m scared. I can be hollow! I can be perfect!” He then had a new memory, along with its own thoughts flow into his mind.

“I don’t want to die! My leg hurts…”

Once the memories and thoughts stopped flowing into his head, he turned to the child on his back. He spoke, concerned for the child.

“Little one, what happened to you?”

Stag’s mind had a new thought flow through it.

“Was imperfect. Thrown away. Deserved it. Couldn’t hurt sibling.”

Stag spoke, wondering if his suspicion was correct.

“Little one, was that you in my mind?”

Crystal nodded, before hugging Stag. A word entered Stag’s mind.

“Sorry. Got scared. Don’t like darkness.”

Stag nodded before replying.

“Little one, you don’t need to apologize. You’ve been through a lot. We’re almost to our destination, if that helps any.”

Crystal nodded. Stag stopped in a little building. It was well lit with lamps. Crystal looked into the lamps, seeing small bugs flying around. She gave Stag a hug, and waved goodbye. She noticed a platform on the floor. She hopped onto it. It took her to the floor above. She walked over to a switch and touched it. It switched to the other side. She heard something open behind her. Turning around, she was greeted by the sight of a vast wasteland. She headed outside.

She hopped down, collapsing to the ground as the pain in her leg intensified. She landed face-first, causing the pain in her mask to intensify as well. Black tears fell onto the ground as silent sobs wracked her body. She felt something slice across her back. She felt something else slice across her legs. She closed her eyes, exhausted. She thought to herself before she passed out.

“This is how it ends?”


	3. Please Be Nice (Also, Can I Call You Dad?)

Crystal came to, laying on the ground. She noticed all the bugs had left her alone. She thought to herself.

“Probably thought I died.”

She shook her head before looking ahead. She noticed light coming from a tunnel. She headed into the tunnel. She silently gasped, surprised to see a house hidden in the tunnel. She snuck inside the house. She thought to herself.

“Looks like someone lives here.” She heard footsteps approaching the house. She quickly hid under the table, the makeshift tablecloth hiding her small body. She heard someone enter the house. She heard them get something from the fridge, before sitting at the table. She scooted away from their feet. She felt the tablecloth that she was sitting on shift as it was lifted up. She fell to the ground, hitting her left leg against the table in the process. She clutched her injured leg to her chest as silent sobs wracked her body. Her tears fell to the ground with quiet plops. She heard the bug speak. He sounded concerned.

“Little one?”

Crystal opened her eyes, tears blurring her vision. She tilted her head. Crystal looked at her leg. She looked back to the bug. The bug spoke again.

“Little one, did the table break your leg?”

Crystal shook her head. The bug spoke again.

“Can you not talk?”

Crystal waved her hand in a so-so motion. The bug looked confused. A thought flowed through the bug’s head, briefly catching him off guard.

“Name’s Crystal. Yours?” The bug spoke.

“My name’s Mato. Was that you, little one?”

Crystal nodded.

“Crystal, how did your leg break?”

Mato noticed a thought flowing through his head, and listened.

“Fell trying to escape.”

Mato spoke again.

“What were you trying to escape from?”

He heard a thought in his head.

“The Abyss.”

Mato looked at Crystal’s broken leg. He grimaced.

“Crystal, I’m going to have to reset the bone in your leg. If it heals improperly, it’ll probably affect your ability to walk.”

Crystal nodded, watching Mato get some wood and string. Mato sat down. He grabbed her leg, carefully moving the bone back into place. Crystal held onto the fluffy collar on his cape. Mato spoke as Crystal silently sobbed, tears falling from both of their faces.

“I’m sorry, little one. I wish I had a way to do this that didn’t hurt.”

Mato placed the wood on both sides of her leg, then tied the string around both pieces of wood.

Crystal let go of Mato’s collar. She quickly wrapped him in a hug. Mato let Crystal sit on his shoulders while he cooked two grilled cheeses. Mato helped Crystal off his shoulders, gently setting her on the ground afterward. Mato handed her a grilled cheese as he took a bite out of his own. He glanced over to see Crystal pushing the grilled cheese into her body. Her body rippled around the grilled cheese until it disappeared. He gave her a thumbs up. Mato heard a thought flow through his head.

“Can I call you ‘Dad’?”

Mato nodded, beaming.


	4. Nightmares Aren't Real (But They Feel so Real)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Crystal has a nightmare, and Mato comforts her.

Crystal looked around. She wondered when it had become so dark in Mato’s house. She looked at the floor. It was shimmering, and white. She looked back up to see the arena in the White Palace. She frantically looked around, hoping she wasn’t going to have to fight her siblings again. She heard the tell-tale footsteps of her father.

She saw her father walk into the room, followed by a kingsmould. The Pale King turned to the kingsmould. He spoke as he pointed at her.

“Dispose of that vessel. It’s impure.”

Crystal started to shake as the kingsmould inched closer to her. It raised the claw-like blade it held over its shoulder, and swung it.

Crystal screamed as it sliced through her abdomen. Black blood dripped from the edge of the blade as Crystal fell to the ground, clutching her stomach. She felt her mask crack as she hit the ground. She felt herself getting weaker as her blood pooled around her. She closed her eyes, unsure if she’d wake up.

She opened her eyes, quickly throwing off the covers off her bed. She noticed a bandage was wrapped around her abdomen. She quickly got out of bed, warily looking around. She felt tears rolling down her cheeks as she continued to shake. She ran over to a corner of the room. She sat down, wrapping her arms around her legs. The lights blinded her for a brief moment as they came to life. Mato's gaze landed on her as he looked in a corner. Mato’s voice sounded so far away. He was blurry due to the tears in her eyes, but she could tell he was approaching her.

“Crystal, did you have a bad dream?”

Crystal nodded, wiping the tears from her eyes. Mato spoke again.

“Would you like a hug?”

Crystal ran over, holding onto him like her life depended on it. She felt Mato rubbing circles into her back. He started to hum a lullaby to her. She drifted off as he continued humming. Before she drifted off completely, she heard Mato whisper, careful not to wake her.

“You’re safe now.”


	5. Are They a Vessel?  (They're Like Me!)

Crystal stepped outside the house, warily scanning her surroundings for any kind of danger. Mato spoke, voice calm, hoping it would help his child calm down.

“I’m right behind you, Crystal. I won’t let anything happen to you.”

Crystal nodded, walking farther away from her new home. A vengefly dove towards Crystal, seeing her as an easy meal. Crystal dropped to the ground in fear. Mato struck the vengefly with his nail, easily dispatching of the bug. He noticed Crystal was still on the ground, shaking. He sat down next to her, and started to gently rub her back. Crystal turned to look at him, fresh tears spilling onto the ground. He spoke, wiping the tears from her face.

“Do you want to go to Crystal Peak?”

A thought flowed through Mato’s head like butter. He listened, knowing that it was Crystal’s way of communicating.

“Crystal Peak? Name’s Crystal... Yes!”

Mato smiled, lifting his child onto his shoulders. Crystal held onto Mato’s horns as he started to run. He heard a scream in his head as he jumped down from the cliff to the entrance to King’s Pass. He heard a thought in his head.

“Scared. Hug please?”

Mato helped Crystal off of his shoulders. Mato spoke as he gave her a hug.

“Sorry for scaring you, Crystal. Would it help if I warned you when I’m going to jump down from high places?”

Crystal nodded before giving Mato a hug back. Mato helped her back onto his shoulders. He spoke.

“I’m going to jump down now, alright? I promise nothing bad will happen.”

A thought flowed through his head.

“Okay. Trust you.”

Crystal gripped Mato’s horns tighter as he jumped down. Mato looked over his shoulder as he spoke.

“You okay back there, Crystal?”

He saw Crystal nod, so he looked forward and continued walking. Crystal noticed a white bug of short stature. She patted the top of Mato’s skull with great enthusiasm. Mato listened to a thought flowing through his head.

“Like me! Look! Vessel!”

Mato felt a pang of guilt as he spoke.

“I don’t think he’s a vessel, unfortunately.”

He noticed the bug watching him as he spoke. The bug then spoke, voice bordering on outright terror.

“Who are you talking to?”

Before he could answer, he heard a thought that quickly flowed through his mind.

“Me!”

The bug looked around frantically as he searched for the intruder of his mind. His gaze fell upon Crystal. Crystal’s body jerked back and forth as she silently laughed at the bug’s reaction. The bug spoke as he watched Crystal laugh.

“Was that you, little one?”

Crystal nodded as a thought entered Mato and the bug’s mind.

“Yup!”

The bug chuckled. He invited Mato and Crystal to rest on the bench for a bit. Mato agreed. He helped Crystal off his shoulders as he sat down.


	6. Crystal Likes Crystals (But Not All the Time)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Mato and Crystal go to Crystal Peak.

Crystal let out a yawn as she awoke from her nap. She glanced over to Mato, slowly reaching up to pat him. His eyes were closed, so she stuck her hand back down. She quietly hopped off the bench. She trotted over to the white bug, quickly patting him to get his attention. The bug looked down at her, not having to look too far. Crystal realized they were about the same height. The bug listened to a thought as it flowed through his mind.

“Name’s Crystal. Your name?”

The bug spoke, voice calm, and tired.

“Elderbug. I wouldn’t recommend going down the well if that’s what you, and your dad are planning on doing. There’s a sickness in the air underground.”

Crystal shook her head as a new thought flowed into Elderbug’s head.

“Not going down. Crystal Peak. Safe?”

Elderbug nodded as he replied.

“From what I heard a couple days ago, you, and your dad should be safe.”

Crystal nodded. She turned around upon hearing the bench creak. Mato waved to her. Crystal ran over, waving goodbye to Elderbug. Mato held onto her hand as they walked to the elevator that lead into Crystal Peak. Crystal held onto Mato’s hand as the elevator rose. Crystal followed Mato into a cavern in the cliff. Crystal picked up a shimmering, pink crystal from the ground. She tugged on Mato’s cape. When Mato turned around, she delicately handed the crystal to him. Mato spoke, voice full of happiness.

“Crystal, you found a very pretty crystal. It reminds me of you. Do you want me to hold onto it for you?”

A thought flowed through his head, happiness nearly overwhelming him.

“For you! Love you, Dad!”

Mato smiled as he pocketed the present. Crystal followed him into a room with conveyor belts. She was walking around quite well, so Mato figured she would be fine to walk on a conveyor belt. He wanted to be sure, however. He turned to Crystal, and spoke.

“Do you think you’ll be okay to walk on the conveyor belt? I can carry you if you want.”

A thought flowed through his mind, tinged with a small amount of determination.

“Walk. No carry. Thank you.”

Mato nodded, turning back to the conveyor belt. He saw a bug with crystals growing out of its abdomen flying around. He figured it’d be fine, seeing how it hadn’t even noticed them. Crystal followed behind him as they walked across the conveyor belt. Mato quickly turned around as he heard a scream in his head. He saw Crystal pinned to the ground by a cluster of crystals. He turned to the bug flying around her, preparing to fire more crystals. He rushed the bug, striking it with his nail. The bug fired one last crystal. Mato screamed, while tears fell from Crystal’s eyes like rain.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Feel free to guess who got hurt in the comments.


	7. I Promise I'll Be Fine (I Hope That's Not a Lie)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Mato is injured, and Crystal runs to get help.

The crystals disappeared from Mato’s arm, quickly following suit in Crystal’s mask. She ignored the crystalized bug that was lying dead on the ground in favor of running to her dad. She skidded to a stop next to her dad, laying on the ground. She sat down on the ground next to him, gently tapping him. Mato tried his best to listen to the thought flowing through his head, despite how tired he was.

“Dad! Dad okay? Dad?”

Mato slowly got up, trying to ignore the lingering pain in his arm when he moved it. He didn’t miss the crystals still in her mask, but opted to get them to safety first. He scooped Crystal into his arms, and started sprinting towards the direction of the elevator. He felt a sense of concern, mixed with terror nearly swallow him up. A thought flowed through his head.

“You’re bleeding. A lot. Dad okay?”

Mato nodded, trying to calm Crystal down. He saw the elevator just ahead of him. Dizziness overtook him as his knees buckled. He quickly pushed Crystal out of the way as he fell. He let out a dissatisfied hiss as he landed on the ground. Crystal ran to his side, tears spilling from her eyes. Mato listened to a thought as it flowed through his head.

“Dad! Please get up! Dad?”

Mato felt tears flowing from his eyes as he spoke. Whether it was from pain, or fear, he didn’t know.

“Crystal, you remember that bug we met?”

Crystal nodded. Mato finished speaking.

“Can you go get him for me?”

Crystal nodded, giving Mato a hug before rushing to the elevator. She turned to face him as she got on the elevator. Mato heard a thought flowing through his head.

“Love you. Come back with help.”

Mato nodded as he watched Crystal disappear, his view of her blocked by the ground he was on. Light reflected off of his tears as they fell to the ground.


	8. I'll Go Get Help (You Better Not Die)

Crystal stepped off the elevator. She frantically ran over to Elderbug. Elderbug caught her as she tripped over a rock. He spoke, concern evident on his face, and in his voice.

“Crystal, what’s wrong? Are you okay? Where’s your dad?”

Crystal grabbed his arm, tugging on it as she turned away from him. Elderbug followed her as she pulled him along, stopping at the elevator. Elderbug felt worry nearly encompass him as a thought flowed through his head.

“Dad above. Help please.”

Elderbug stepped on the elevator, quickly followed by Crystal. Crystal quickly ran off the elevator as it reached the top. Elderbug stepped off the elevator after Crystal. Crystal ran to her dad’s side before quickly looking between her dad and Elderbug. She watched Elderbug as he sat next to her dad. Elderbug spoke, concern for the nailmaster causing his voice to waver. He wasn’t sure if it was from Crystal or himself anymore.

“Do you think you can get up?”

Mato replied, giving Crystal a hug with the arm that wasn’t bleeding.

“I might need some help.”

Both bugs felt concern, and determination flow through them as a thought entered their heads.

"At home. Crystal help dad.”

Mato smiled as he replied.

“Yeah, you’ll get to help me. Thank you, Crystal.”

Crystal nodded, following along as Elderbug helped Mato to the elevator. She followed them as Elderbug helped Mato to the bench. Mato sat down on the bench, letting Crystal sit next to him. Crystal quickly nestled into his side, earning a slight chuckle from Elderbug.


	9. Home Sweet Home (But First, Let's Eat, and Take a Nap)

Crystal glanced over to Mato as Elderbug continued chatting with him. Crystal tugged on Mato’s cape, quickly grabbing his attention. Mato turned to her before speaking, voice calm.

“Yes, Crystal?”

A thought quickly flowed through his head, causing him to almost miss it.

“Go home?”

Mato nodded as he replied.

“Okay, we’ll go home. Give me a second to get ready, alright?”

Crystal nodded before quickly hopping off the bench. She wondered if he would be able to get up without assistance. She watched Mato get off the bench, careful not to go too fast, unless he wanted to get hurt again. Mato turned to Elderbug, and waved goodbye to him. Crystal followed him to the cliff that they had jumped from earlier. Mato crouched down on his knees. He turned to her, and spoke.

“Crystal, get on my shoulders, and hold on tight.”

Crystal carefully climbed onto her dad’s back before settling on his shoulders. She grabbed onto his horns as he started walking towards the cliff face. Mato dug his fingers into the side of the cliff, and started to carefully climb.

Upon reaching the plateau that lead into King’s Pass, he sat on the ground, panting. Crystal carefully got off his back, and sat in his lap. Mato smiled.

After a bit, Crystal got out of Mato’s lap to allow him to get up. Mato carefully got up, and crouched down. He turned to Crystal, who was already climbing onto his shoulders. Mato stood up once Crystal had settled onto his shoulders, grabbing ahold of his horns. Mato carefully jumped up, quickly digging his fingers, and feet into the side of the cliff. He carefully climbed to the top of the cliff, pulling himself over the edge with a heave, and a grunt. He fell to the ground, Crystal being thrown a short ways away upon impact. Crystal landed on her feet, carefully keeping herself from falling as she did so. She ran over to Mato, and sat down next to him.

After a bit, Mato carefully got up. He spoke as he looked at Crystal, noticing her limp.

“Do you want me to carry you for a bit?”

Crystal was silent for a bit as she pondered the offer. She nodded, allowing Mato to scoop her into his arms. Mato quickly ran to his house, not bothering to deal with the crawlids, or vengeflies. He ran inside, hearing both his and Crystal’s stomachs growl. He made them both grilled cheeses, handing one to Crystal. He took a bite out of his grilled cheese before glancing over. Crystal’s grilled cheese had already been absorbed into her body. A couple crumbs on her hands testified that there had been a grilled cheese at one point.

Mato let out a yawn as he watched Crystal crawl into her bed. Mato nodded as he spoke.

“I think you have the right idea.”

Mato crawled into his own bed, closing his eyes, and allowing himself to drift off.


	10. Eyes Are the Window to the Soul (I Hope Your Eyes Are Lying)

Crystal glanced around. She quickly noticed there was shimmering, yellowish light in every direction. She heard a feminine voice in her head, soothing her worries about it being a nightmare.

“Child, you have been through so much. Thrown away by a father that deemed you imperfect. If only he could see how wrong he was. If you want, I could make you perfect. You wouldn’t be hurt ever again. You’d never be thrown away ever again.”

Crystal nodded. She wanted to be perfect. If she was perfect, there’d be no risk of being thrown away. She closed her eyes as the light got brighter. She felt a warm sensation encompass her body as she opened her eyes. 

She glanced over to Mato, sleeping soundly in his bed. She swung her legs off the bed, wanting to get breakfast ready. An intense burning feeling spread across her body as she collapsed, the sound of her mask cracking upon hitting stone causing her stomach to turn.

Mato awoke to the sound of mask cracking. He quickly got out of bed upon realizing Crystal wasn’t in her bed. He noticed Crystal laying on the ground, a black substance oozing from her shell, and various, barely visible cracks in her mask. Crystal’s body jerked as she stood up, turning to Mato. A mixture of guilt, loathing, fear, disbelief, and sadness bit at his insides as he looked into Crystal’s eyes. It was unmistakable. The merigold pupils barely illuminating the room didn’t lie. He grunted as he pinched himself. He spoke, sadness evident in his voice.

“I’m not dreaming. I really wish I was though.”

Crystal grabbed a nail from nearby. She quickly lunged at him. She raised her nail high above her head, and brought it down.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm going to take a short break so you, the readers, can speculate and comment what you think will happen, and what happened at the end.  
> Edit: I'm going to post the next chapter(s) on the 27th.


	11. Stay Awake

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You're all getting chapters a day early!

Mato stepped back in shock as Crystal brought the nail down. A barely glowing, orange liquid spilled out of her abdomen, some splattering onto Mato’s armor. He heard a sickening squelch as the nail sliced through Crystal’s skin, tearing her cloak in the process with a quiet ripping sound. He just stood in place, paralyzed by shock, and horror as Crystal pulled the nail out of her abdomen. Orange tears flowed down her mask like rivers. He screamed, tears falling from his face as she thrust the nail back into her torso with another squelch.

“Crystal! Stop! Please!”

Crystal showed no signs that she had even heard her dad, pulling the nail back out of her belly, an orange line connecting her self-inflicted wound to the end of the nail. She thrust the nail back into her stomach. Mato noticed she was slowing down. He hoped that meant she was finally coming back to him. Crystal pulled the nail out of her gut.

A clattering sound echoed throughout the room as the nail fell from her hand. The orange faded from her eyes, filling Mato with a sense of relief. His relief was cut short, however, upon Crystal falling to the ground with a thud. He ran over, being careful to avoid the nail on the ground.

He pulled Crystal to his chest, cradling her in his arms. Tears slid down his face as he spoke.

“This can’t be happening…”

He heard a thought flow through his head, filling him with desperation, and a trace amount of fear. Under any other circumstances, it wouldn’t, but this was different. Very different.

“Nap?”

He shook his head as he spoke.

“Crystal, I need you to keep your eyes open for me, alright? Don’t fall asleep on me.”

Mato cradled Crystal to his chest as he walked over to the counter. He snatched the bandages from the counter. He sat Crystal on the bed, preparing to wrap her injury. He spoke, looking at her face.

“Crystal, I’ll try to be gentle, but it’ll still hurt some. I’m sorry.”

Crystal didn’t respond. Mato felt sick. He yelled, panic quickly overwhelming him as tears fell from his face.

“Crystal? Wake up! Please!”

He waited for a thought from Crystal to appear in his head, but nothing came to him.


	12. I'm Better off Alone

Mato glanced at Crystal’s mask upon hearing it cracking. He watched in horror as a black gas started leaking through the cracks. It formed into an almost pure black, legless version of Crystal. Mato noted the eyes on what he figured was his daughter’s ghost. Her eyes were pure white, a faint glow emanating from them. She glanced over to Mato. Mato reached towards his daughter, wanting nothing more than to hug her. His hands phased through her incorporeal form, sending chills up his arms.

He heard a distorted thought in his head. It hurt his head when he tried to listen to it. He clutched the sides of his head in pain before it promptly stopped, along with the thought. He glanced around, noticing the worried, and guilty look on his daughter’s ghost. He smiled, trying to comfort his child. He spoke.

“I’m okay, Crystal. You didn’t know that would happen. It’s okay.”

Crystal shook her head, tears brimming at the corners of her eyes. She quickly floated outside. She felt a mix of regret, guilt, shame, and disappointment as she floated away faster, quickly floating up into the air. She noticed a path leading down, so she quickly floated down as Mato was struggling to keep up with her. She quickly floated down farther. She hid in a secluded area after losing her dad. She heard Mato screaming her name. She heard Mato start to walk away, causing tears to fall from her face. She cried more as she thought to herself.

“Better this way.”


	13. Lost, Then Found

Mato slowly walked back to his house. He hoped that Crystal would pop out of a crevice before floating near him. He didn’t blame her, but he could tell that she blamed herself for what happened when she tried to communicate. He sat down at the table as tears filled his eyes. He just wanted Crystal to be okay. He figured he’d search more in the morning. He laid in bed as his tears dampened the pillow beneath his head.

He awoke the next morning, quickly hopping out of bed. He sprinted outside, heading to the last place he saw his daughter. He yelled as he sobbed.

“Crystal, please come out! I’m not mad at you. I just want you to come back home safe.”

He noticed something black appear from a tunnel nearby. It floated out of the tunnel, revealing itself to be Crystal. She floated near Mato, tears flowing down her face. Mato spoke, trying to wipe the tears from her eyes.

“It’s okay. I don’t blame you at all. You didn’t know that would happen. Would you like to go home?”

Crystal nodded. Mato smiled, the two of them heading back home.

They quickly realized Crystal’s mask wasn’t just cracked down the middle, but in fact, broken in half. Mato frowned at her mask, wondering how to put it back together. He realized Crystal needed her mask to be intact if she wanted to communicate in more than just nods, and head shakes. He grabbed a nearby roll of gauze. He put the two halves of the mask next to each other, making sure they were touching each other. He wrapped the mask in gauze, making sure to keep the eyeholes uncovered. He turned to Crystal, who had been watching the whole time. Crystal floated close to her mask before disappearing inside of it.

Mato watched in awe as Crystal got to her feet. He turned to the wound in her abdomen. He spoke.

“I’m going to have to bandage the wound in your abdomen.”

He heard a thought flow through his head as Crystal gently hugged him.

“Okay. Love you, Dad.”

Mato carefully wrapped her abdomen in gauze, covering the wound. He heard another thought flow through his head, a feeling of gratitude coming with it.

“Thank you.”

Crystal laid back down in her bed. Mato heard a thought flow through his head.

“Nap?”

Mato nodded, smiling. He tucked Crystal in, gently bumping his face against her forehead in an attempt to give her a kiss goodnight. He heard a thought in his head.

“Love you. No yellow dreams.”

He crawled into his own bed. Fear, and concern bit at his insides as he realized the connection between the “yellow dreams” and the infection.


	14. It's Just a Bad Dream (But You Died)

Crystal hopped out of bed, quickly rushing over to Mato’s side. She grabbed his hand as he tossed, and turned in his sleep. Mato sat up, quickly looking around in alarm. He felt something wet slide down his cheeks. Crystal reached up, wiping the tears from his face. He heard a thought flow through his head, concern quickly following it.

“Dad okay? Bad dream?”

Mato turned to Crystal, scooping her into his arms. Crystal knew that was a yes. Crystal heard him whimpering quietly as tears continued to fall from his face. Crystal hugged her dad as comforting thoughts flowed through his head.

“Dad okay. Dad safe. Crystal safe. No danger. At home. Safe. Lay down?”

Mato plopped down onto his back. Crystal curled up next to him. Mato turned to her, then spoke.

“Crystal, you can go lie down in your bed. I’ll be okay.”

A thought flowed into his mind like butter.

“Comfort Dad! Dad scared!”

Mato smiled, speaking as he started to drift off.

“What did I do to deserve you?”

He felt Crystal hug him as a thought flowed through his head.

“Best dad. Love you.”

Mato smiled as he drifted off. He mumbled something as he drifted off.

“Love you too.”


	15. I Want to Leave the Past Behind (But It Won't Let Go of Me)

Crystal got out of her dad’s bed upon hearing a knock at the door. She quickly woke Mato, who quickly got out of bed. He shuffled to the door, groggily wiping the sleep from his eyes. He opened the door. He was greeted by a bug wearing a red dress, a needle on their back. The bug hastily grabbed the needle from their back, pointing it at the nailmaster. The bug spoke, voice sounding feminine.

“This is where my sibling has been hiding? I assure you, nailmaster, if you cause my sibling any harm, physical or emotional, you will meet your end by my needle.”

Crystal ran in front of the bug, arms outstretched in an effort to protect her dad from the bug. The bug glanced around as a thought flowed into her head.

“Protect dad! No! Dad safe!”

The bug spoke as her gaze fell on Crystal.

“Was that you, little sibling?”

Crystal nodded as another thought flowed through the bug’s head.

“Name’s Crystal. Your name?”

The bug replied.

“Hornet.”

Crystal quickly gave Hornet a hug, thoughts flowing into Hornet’s head, and Mato’s head.

“Sibling! Hornet!”

Hornet wrapped Crystal in a hug, dropping her stone-cold exterior. She looked at Mato before she spoke.

“Nailmaster, how much do you know of my sibling’s creation, and past? Do you know what she had to go through in that palace due to the king’s atrocious plan?”

Mato realized he didn’t know too much about Crystal’s past, only snippets from memories that would come from her. It sickened him to think that what he saw from her memories was only the tip of the iceberg. Mato spoke.

“I’m afraid I don’t know much. I only really know that she was thrown into the Abyss because she was deemed imperfect.”

Hornet let out a sigh. She glanced to Crystal, who looked distressed by the mention of the palace, and her dad, not to mention her past. Mato noticed as well. He gave Crystal a hug as he spoke.

“Crystal, do you want to stay here while we talk outside?”

Crystal froze up, before hesitantly nodding. Mato didn’t miss her freezing up, however. He spoke, releasing her from the hug.

“We’ll be right outside. We’ll be back inside soon.”

Crystal nodded, watching Mato and Hornet head outside. Thoughts spun around in her head, making her feel sick.

 _He’ll leave. He’ll realize that I’m imperfect. Impure. He’ll throw me away. Just like Father._ Her breathing quickened as the room around her was quickly replaced by the shining, white walls of the palace. She hastily looked around, gaze falling on an all-too-familiar sibling. The sibling’s horns ended in a point. Halfway down the inner side of the horns, another point protruded from the horns. The sibling rushed her, their nail slicing through her abdomen.

She clutched the wound, her claws digging into it. Someone grabbed her hands, pulling them away from the wound. She looked up, gaze falling upon a white face. She felt tears running down her face as fear-filled thoughts bombarded the nearby bugs.

“Please don’t throw me away! I can be perfect! Can be hollow! Pure!”

She heard someone softly speak.

“Crystal, it’s okay. You’re not there anymore. You’re safe, I promise. Nobody’s throwing you away.”

The palace faded from view, allowing her to see the room again. She wiped the tears from Mato’s eyes. She realized her abdomen hurt pretty bad. She looked down. Her gaze fell upon torn, white bandages with black around the tears. She looked at her hands, quickly noticing the black blood caking the ends of her claws. Mato grabbed a roll of nearby bandages, and carefully wrapped her abdomen. He hugged her close to his chest, humming a soft lullaby for her. Crystal felt exhaustion creep in, quickly pulling her into unconsciousness.


	16. Hunted

Mato awoke in his bed. He swung his legs over the side of his bed, slowly sitting up. He stretched as he let out a yawn, a couple bones popping as he did so. He groggily got out of bed, quickly cooking a couple eggs for himself. He ate them before turning to Crystal. He realized he didn’t know if she’d like eggs or not. He cooked her one egg, and one piece of toast. He walked over to her bed, and gently woke her up. He heard a thought flow through his head as Crystal rubbed at her eyes.

“Tired.”

Mato smiled as he replied.

“I know, I made you breakfast if that makes getting out of bed worth it.”

Crystal hopped out of bed, and hugged Mato. Mato heard a thought flow through his head, causing a small smile to creep its way back onto his face.

“Dad. Always worth it.”

Mato turned to Crystal as she ate her breakfast. He spoke as she looked up at him after finishing her piece of toast.

“Would you like to visit my brother, Oro, today?”

He didn’t miss the hesitance as she slowly nodded. He pondered aloud.

“Maybe my brother has seen some of your siblings?”

Crystal excitedly hopped from foot to foot, excitedly patting Mato’s arm. Mato smiled, scooping Crystal into his arms. Mato sprinted to the cliff, the steep drop nearly searing itself into Crystal’s mind from the first time. She felt a mix of fear and despair settle in her gut. Mato turned to her as she went completely still, trying to calm down.

Mato hugged Crystal, snapping her out of her thoughts in the process. He spoke, concern for his child biting at his insides upon feeling a sense of unease. He figured it was from Crystal, he wouldn’t be scared of jumping down. He had done it plenty of times.

“Crystal, we can stop for a moment if you need to. My brother can wait.”

Crystal nodded, causing Mato to set her down on the ground. Crystal sat down on the ground, the cold air causing her to shiver slightly. Mato turned to her, and spoke.

“I’m going to go search around for some wood or sticks to build a fire. Do you think you’ll be okay to stay here for a bit?”

Crystal nodded. She figured it’d be fine, he wouldn’t be too far away. She watched his figure disappear in the distance, a slight sense of unease making itself known to her. She heard a high-pitched hiss from nearby. She looked around, her gaze falling upon a swarm of five vengeflies.

One dove at her as she quickly got to her feet. The others joined in, diving at her, and nearly knocking her off balance. She felt the ground vanish beneath her foot as she took a step back. She hastily stepped forward, a vengefly diving straight into her mask. She flew backward. She noticed Mato running towards her, nail in hand, quickly dispatching the swarm of vengeflies. She saw Mato’s hand reach out to her as she fell. She felt the tips of Mato’s fingers touch hers for a moment, before his hand slipped from her grasp.

The wind around her was roaring in her ears as it zoomed by. Her cloak billowed around her as the ground got closer. She closed her eyes, tears flying wildly above her. She heard a sickening crack as immense pain flared to life in the back of her head. She barely registered someone picking her up. She heard someone speak, wondering why they sounded so far away.

“Crystal! Please open your eyes! What do I do?”

Crystal opened her eyes slowly, a bleary figure coming into focus. Crystal recognized the figure immediately. She could see tears falling from his face, orange blood splattered across his armor. Her headache dulled a bit.

“Dad?”

Mato replied, voice shaking.

“Yes?”

Crystal yawned, her headache returning full force. Tears sprang to her eyes. She felt something cold, and wet behind her head. She carefully stuck her hand behind her head, before seeing what was on her hand, and furthermore, the back of her head.

The black liquid on her hand caused her to reel back in fear. She figured it was void. Void that was coming from her mask, from what she could tell, that only happened when she was in serious danger due to an injury. Her voice wavered as she spoke, her fear unmistakable to her dad.

“Don’t want to die.”


	17. Is This Goodbye?  (Please Don't Go)

Mato clutched Crystal to his chest as he frantically ran to Elderbug. Elderbug turned to him as he skidded to a stop, dirt flying into the air. Elderbug could easily see the panic on Mato’s face. Tears fell from Mato’s face as he spoke, voice breaking as he tried to hold back sobs.

“Please help her.”

Elderbug ran inside his house, and came back outside with a roll of bandages, and a damp washcloth. The washcloth glowed as Elderbug gently cleaned the back of Crystal’s head. Mato watched in awe as the injury stopped bleeding, and closed up. Elderbug glanced to the roll of bandages in his hand, and chuckled.

“Guess I didn’t need these after all.”

Elderbug handed the roll of bandages to Mato.

“You’ll probably need these more than me, it seems. Your child really seems to enjoy danger.”

Mato frowned.

“Thank you. She actually doesn’t enjoy danger. She’s very curious, albeit fearful. When she gets hurt, it’s usually because something decided to fight her or she wandered off, then something decided to fight her.”

Elderbug nodded, quickly heading inside his house. He came back outside, clutching a worn, slightly broken nail. He handed it to Mato, smiling slightly.

“Maybe you should teach her to defend herself?”

Mato nodded, then turned to Crystal.

“Would you like to learn to defend yourself?”

Crystal nodded. She pondered if she would have been fine if she could have fought off the vengeflies. Mato noticed a thought flowing through his head.

“Go to Oro’s first?”

Mato nodded. Elderbug chuckled.

“Would I be correct in assuming you have somewhere to go to?”

Mato chuckled, nodding. Mato waved goodbye to Elderbug. Crystal hugged Elderbug as a thought flowed through Mato, and Elderbug’s heads.

“Bye!”

Elderbug smiled.

“Goodbye, little one. Be safe, not only for your sake, but also your dad’s sake. I thought he was going to have a heart attack!”

Crystal ran to Mato’s side, hugging him. Mato heard a thought in his head.

"Go Oro’s?”

Mato nodded.

Elderbug felt a mix of despair, and regret as he watched the duo head down the well. A somber thought entered his head.

_ They won’t come back, not as themselves, anyway. Nobody ever does. The sickness in the air will get them, it always gets whoever goes down there. That pillbug from a few days ago probably got sick. _


	18. You're Safe, I Promise (I Hope That's Not a Lie)

Mato ran after Crystal, whom was running towards a temple-looking building. He screamed her name as he ran after her. He watched her run inside the temple. _Great Wyrms above, please don’t let her get hurt before I get to her…_

He ran into the temple. He was greeted by the sight of a pillbug with a strange mask on his head, secured by what looked to be cloth. He heard a quiet thumping from the center of the room. He looked over, gaze falling on a familiar, white mask. _My kid’s going to give me a heart attack one of these days…_ He noticed she was pounding on an egg, or rather what he assumed to be an egg, rather furiously. _What could be causing her to react to that thing in such a way?_ He called her over. Her head tilted slightly.

“Crystal, why were you hitting that so much?"

He heard the bug from his left cut off his child, much to his annoyance.

“Pardon me, sir. I regret to inform you that creature is a vessel. It doesn’t have feelings, free will, or the ability to communicate.”

Mato spun around to face the bug, glaring. He gripped his nail in his hand, anger threatening to spill over. He screamed instead.

“My kid isn’t just a creature! She has feelings, free will, and the ability to communicate! Sure, it may not be verbally, but she can talk!”

The bug stepped backward, quickly falling over his own two feet. Crystal rushed over, and started patting Mato’s arm. Mato heard a thought flow through his head. The bug heard the same thought flow through his own head, confusing him slightly.

“Dad. Breathe.”

Crystal turned to the bug on the ground.

“Okay? Help up? Hurt?”

The bug looked to Mato, confusion evident to Mato.

“Sir, was that you?”

Mato shook his head, and pointed to Crystal. Mato heard another thought flow through his head as Crystal gently tugged on the bug’s arm.

“Okay? Bug okay? Hello? Hear me? Bug?”

The bug turned to Crystal.

“Was that you in my head just now?”

Crystal nodded. Mato wondered to himself. _How did that bug know that stuff about my kid?_ Mato spoke up.

“Excuse me if I’m overstepping, but how did you know all that about my kid?”

The bug turned to Mato, and replied, scratching his chin.

“I wish I knew. Snippets of information come to me, and then leave as fast as they came.”

The bug gasped.

“I forgot to introduce myself! Name’s Quirrel. You two are?”

Mato glared at the bug, silently daring him to try anything.

“Mato.”

Crystal quickly replied.

“Name’s Crystal!”

Crystal ran over, and hugged the bug. Mato heard a thought flow through his head.

“Look! Egg mask!”

Quirrel, and Mato quickly realized she was pointing at the mask on Quirrel’s head. Quirrel walked over to the egg, quickly taking off the mask on his head. He studied the similarities between the mask on the egg, and the mask that he wore on his head.

“Strange. I feel like I should know this bug. Why do I feel like I should know them? Do I know them? Do they know me? Should I know them?”

Quirrel collapsed to the floor, gripping the mask, his knuckles turning white. Crystal rushed over, patting his face. Tears fell from Quirrel’s face as he continued. Quirrel fell into his own thoughts, quickly starting to panic.

“I should know them! I can’t remember! Why can’t I remember? I should remember them! Why can’t I remember them? Why do I have their mask? Her mask? Her sounds right. Why do I have her mask? Who is she? Why can’t I remember her? Who is she? Is she important to me? Did she give this mask to me? Why can’t I remember? Did I steal it? Was I a thief? Am I a criminal? I don’t want to go to jail!”

Mato walked over, concern for the pillbug washing away any anger towards him. He gently squeezed Quirrel’s shoulder. He realized Quirrel was starting to hyperventilate.

“Quirrel? Can you hear me?”

The only indication that Quirrel heard him was a _slight_ flick of his antennae in his direction. Mato continued.

“I need you to breathe for me, alright?”

He slowly lead Quirrel through a deep-breathing exercise to help calm him down. Quirrel snapped out of his thoughts, quickly wiping away the tears that were rolling down his face. He quickly put the mask back on his head, not wanting to go back down that train of thought. Mato watched as he ran out of the building, not sparing a glance back. Mato heard Crystal starting to pound on the egg. He was about to ask Crystal what she was pounding on the egg for, but was cut short by a guttural howl in his head.

Upon hearing the howl, Crystal started ramming herself into the egg. Mato ran over, holding his child. He glanced over her mask, new cracks all across her mask. Some of the cracks were starting to leak void. He heard a thought flow through his head as he carried her out of the building.

“Save sibling! Sibling trapped! Sibling hurt! Sibling scared! Let go! Dad! Save sibling! Dad, let go!”

Mato frowned as he ignored her pleas, and protests. Crystal smacked Mato, causing him to drop her on the ground. He heard a quiet thought in his head.

“Sorry.”

Crystal sprinted back into the temple before Mato turned around. She turned back to the egg in the center of the room. She pounded against the egg again. She silently yelled, hoping her sibling could hear her. They were both made of void, so she figured they could.

“Sibling! Crystal here! Your sibling! Save you! Free you!”

She heard a thought flow through her head.

“Do not feel. Do not think. Do not hope.”

She sat down next to the egg, sending another thought to her sibling.

“Sibling here. You safe. Save you! _Promise!”_

She didn’t hear a response from her sibling. She closed her eyes, slowly starting to drift off. She thought she heard chains rattling inside the egg as she fell asleep.


	19. Grounded

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Crystal: *smacks Mato in the face*  
> Mato: You're grounded.  
> Crystal: Sorry.  
> Mato: You're still grounded.  
> Crystal: :(

Crystal awoke as she felt someone pick her up. She looked up, and was greeted by the sight of Mato’s mask. She didn’t protest as Mato carried her out of the temple. Mato was silent until they reached their house. He sat her down on her bed, and spoke.

“You’re grounded for smacking me in the face. You don’t hit people unless it’s in self-defense, understand? Also, until you stop wandering off, you’re wearing this.”

Mato tied a rope around Crystal’s arm. Mato heard a thought in his head as Crystal crossed her arms, copying Mato’s body language.

“Said sorry.”

Mato sighed as he spoke.

“Sorry doesn’t excuse hurting people like that, Crystal. Before you ask, neither does wanting to go to your sibling.”

Another thought flowed through his head.

“Grounded from?”

Mato thought for a moment, then he spoke.

“You’re grounded from visiting the temple from now, to three days from now.”

Mato heard another thought in his head as Crystal glared at him.

“Take. Rope. Off.”

Mato shook his head, and replied.

“Not until you stop wandering off, and getting hurt.”

He heard a thought in his head.

“Mean Dad.”

Mato let out a sigh as he thought to himself. _These are going to be the longest four days of my life._


	20. You Can Still Have Fun

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Mato reminds Crystal of the fact that just because she's grounded, it doesn't mean she can't have fun.

Crystal got off of her bed, and proceeded to glare at Mato as he cooked her a grilled cheese. Mato handed the grilled cheese to Crystal. She pushed the grilled cheese into her body. She turned to Mato, and a thought flowed through his head.

“Dad. Visit sibling. Please?”

Mato shook his head, and replied.

“You’re grounded at the moment. Once you’re ungrounded, we can visit your sibling.”

Crystal glared at him as another thought went through his head.

“Meanie.”

Mato sighed as he made himself a crawlid, and cheese sandwich. He took a bite out of his sandwich. He spoke.

“Crystal, do you want to walk around outside with me? Just because you’re grounded doesn’t mean you can’t have fun outside.”

Crystal walked over to him, and hugged him.

“Yes. Sorry for smacking you.”

Mato hugged her back, and replied.

“I know you’re sorry. You’re still grounded, however.”

Crystal grabbed Mato’s hand as they walked outside, the rope lying abandoned on the table.


	21. New Dad For A Sibling

Crystal walked around, exploring the area around her house. Her dad followed closely behind her. She heard a thought flow through her head.

“Tired…”

She stumbled across an opening in the ground. She quickly went down, and was greeted by a white mask, cracks littering it. She saw void leaking from the cracks, collecting in a puddle underneath her sibling. She climbed out of the small cavern in the ground, and quickly ran over to her dad. Mato heard a thought flow through his head as Crystal led him near the cavern.

“Found sibling. Sibling hurt. Help sibling? Please?”

Mato nodded, and replied.

“You need to get them out of the cavern, then we can take your sibling home. We can help them at the house.”

Crystal nodded, vanishing in the cavern where she had found one of her siblings. She noted the horns of her sibling had many smaller horns protruding from them along the perimeter, all heading towards the end. She noted her sibling also had horns going up on the side of their mask. She walked closer to her sibling. Her sibling looked at her, eyes full of fear. She heard a thought flow through her head, fear radiating from it.

“Don’t hurt me! Please!”

Crystal sat down in front of her sibling, and a thought flowed through her sibling’s head.

“Won’t hurt you. Help you. Dad help you.”

Upon hearing ‘Dad’, her sibling jumped up, albeit wobbly. Her sibling grabbed a broken nail from their back. She heard another thought go through her mind as her sibling slashed the air in front of her, almost hitting her as she quickly backed up.

“No! Dad not safe! Dad hurt us!”

Crystal quickly realized her sibling thought she meant the Pale King. Crystal clarified.

“Not Pale Dad. New dad. New dad’s safe.”

She caught her sibling as they fell, void starting to flow from injuries to their shell. Her sibling hugged her as she helped them walk towards the entrance to the cavern. Her sibling heard a thought flow through their head as she helped them get out of the cavern.

“Dad! Help sibling!”

Mato rushed over, and quickly noticed the cracks littering her sibling’s mask, as well as the void leaking from the cracks, and the injuries to their shell. He spoke, sitting down in front of her sibling.

“Little one, do you have a name?”

The sibling nodded, and a thought flowed through Mato’s head.

“Vessel.”

Mato felt tears prick at the corners of his eyes.  _ This child has heard the word vessel spoken to them so many times that they think it’s their name… _ Mato spoke.

“Little one, vessel isn’t a name. How about we come up with a name for you?”

Crystal’s sibling nodded. Mato spoke.

“How about Basil?”

The sibling shook their head. Mato replied.

“Bellatrix?”

Another shake of the head.

“Cayden?”

Mato paused for a moment, but was met with another shake of the head.

“Elda?”

The sibling shook their head.

“Sarid?”

The sibling thought for a bit, before nodding enthusiastically. Sarid crawled into Mato’s lap, causing Mato to smile. He carefully picked up Sarid. Crystal crawled into his lap, so he picked her up too. He heard a thought flow through his head.

“He.”

Mato looked at Sarid, who was pointing at himself, and another thought flowed through his head.

“Sarid. He.”

Mato nodded, then stood up. He walked to his house, carrying Crystal, and Sarid in his arms. He laid Sarid in his bed, and Crystal in hers. He watched as Sarid, and Crystal both got out of bed, and laid down on the floor next to each other. He smiled, and picked them up. He put them both in Crystal’s bed. He laid down in his bed, facing his children. As he drifted off, he thought to himself.  _ I won’t let anyone hurt you two. If anyone tries, they’ll have to get through me. _


	22. I Can't Fix This (But I Know Someone Who Can)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sarid: *falls, and breaks arm*  
> Mato: *Thinking: I don't know how to fix that...* I'm going to take you to my friend, Sly. He'll be able to help me set your arm properly.  
> Sarid: :'( (Stranger danger! He'll hurt me, won't he?)  
> Mato: He won't hurt you. I promise.

Mato got out of bed, and walked over to the cabinets. He grabbed some gauze, and anti-bacterial cream. He gently woke Sarid. Sarid warily looked around, calming down once he realized he was at Mato’s house. Mato quietly spoke once Sarid sleepily looked at him.

“Sarid, I’m going to clean your wounds, and bandage them. It might sting a bit, but you can go back to sleep once I’m done, alright?”

Sarid nodded, letting Mato dress his wounds, carefully moving to keep from waking his sister.

He laid back down next to his sister. Mato tucked him back in, and whispered.

“I’ll wake you both up once breakfast is ready.”

Sarid nodded, and drifted off.

Mato walked over to the stove. He cooked Sarid, and Crystal two eggs, and one piece of toast each. He walked back over to the bed where Sarid, and Crystal were sleeping. He gently woke them up, and helped them off the bed. Crystal, and Sarid walked over to the table, and sat down in separate chairs.

Crystal glanced over as she ate, and noticed Sarid hadn’t touched his food. Sarid heard a thought flow through his head as Crystal patted his shoulder.

“It’s safe. Tasty too. Not hungry?”

Sarid nodded before tentatively shoving an egg into his torso. After a few moments, he grabbed the other egg, and shoved it into his torso. Mato turned to Sarid.

“Are you going to try the toast, or do you want to wait until some other time?”

He watched as Sarid grabbed the toast, and shoved it into his torso. His body rippled slightly as the toast was enveloped by his body. He noticed Sarid was shaking slightly. He was about to ask his child if he was okay, but was cut short when Sarid got out of his seat, and bolted out the door. Mato ran out the door after Sarid, Crystal following him closely. He watched as Sarid tripped, and tumbled over the edge. A sharp  _ crack  _ resonated through the air, causing Mato to grimace. He looked over the edge, and was greeted by Sarid, laying facedown on the ground.

He quickly noticed a black substance pooling around his child, and one arm bent at an unnatural angle. He hopped down, and carefully picked Sarid up. He sprinted to the house, and laid Sarid on his bed. He pulled out some gauze, and carefully covered most of his injuries. He hissed when he looked at Sarid’s arm.  _ That looks really bad. I might have to take him to Sly. I don’t know how he’d react though… I don’t know how to fix his arm… When put that way, there’s not much choice… _ Mato patted Sarid’s uninjured arm gently in an attempt to reassure him as he spoke.

“Sarid, I think I need to take you to a friend of mine to get your arm fixed.”

He let out a sigh as Sarid shook his head. Mato heard a thought flow through his head like a river.

“Scared. Friend no hurt Sarid?”

Mato nodded, he trusted Sly, after all he was like a father to him. He heard another thought in his head.

“Promise?”

Mato spoke, sitting down next to his child.

“My friend won’t hurt you. I promise.”


	23. Can You Please Watch My Kids?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Mato heads to Dirtmouth to visit Sly. He needs help setting Sarid's arm, but Sly's shop is locked. He finds out from Elderbug that Sly went down the well. Elderbug watches Sarid, and Crystal while Mato goes to find his teacher. Mato is worried that he's infected.

Mato carefully picked up Sarid, not wanting to hurt his arm further. He carried him out of the house, Crystal following closely behind. He walked to the cliff that he would have to jump down to get to Dirtmouth. He grimaced, remembering how Crystal reacted the first time. He pondered to himself. _I could jump down with both of them in my arms, but the impact of landing might move Sarid’s arm some._ He turned to Crystal.

“Crystal, do you want me to carry you, and Sarid? I’m not sure about how it’ll work out due to the fact that I need to keep Sarid’s arm from moving too much, especially when we land.”

Crystal nodded, and Mato heard a thought flow through his head.

“Can hold Sarid’s arm. You can carry us.”

Mato thought for a moment before nodding. _That could work._ He replied.

“You need to be careful not to move his arm too much, okay?”

Crystal nodded, and waited for Mato to adjust his grip on Sarid, freeing up one of his arms in the process. He carefully scooped Crystal into his free arm. He waited until he was sure he could carry both of them to prepare to jump down. He turned to the children in his arms.

“I’m going to jump now, okay?”

Sarid, and Crystal nodded simultaneously. Mato jumped down, landing near the entrance to King’s Pass. He warned Crystal, and Sarid, then jumped down to the pathway to Dirtmouth. He headed to Sly’s shop.

The door was closed, so he grabbed the doorknob. It jiggled as he tried to turn it, quickly stopping when he tried to turn it further in either direction. He noticed Elderbug standing nearby. He walked over, and waited to speak until Elderbug noticed him.

“Have you seen Sly? His shop’s locked, so I figure he went somewhere for a bit.”

Elderbug frowned.

“He headed down into the well a few days ago. He hasn’t come back up yet. I’m starting to get worried for him.”

A thought flowed through the group’s heads as Crystal tugged on Mato’s collar.

“There’s a sickness. Underground.”

Mato frowned, and looked at Elderbug.

“Can you please watch Crystal, and Sarid for me while I look for Sly?”

Elderbug nodded. Mato set Sarid, and Crystal on the bench, and waved goodbye. He headed over to the well, and jumped down, vanishing from sight.


	24. Head in the Clouds (But Not For Long!)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Mato finds Sly, and brings him back to Dirtmouth. Sly essentially commands Mato to spend the night at his shop because he doesn't want him to get hurt getting back home.

Mato looked around, spying a white bug crawling along a floating platform. He watched as it crawled onto the underside of the platform, and continued crawling. He walked over to the platform, and watched the bug crawl to the top of the platform. He thought to himself,  _ Well then, we have a special bug. _ He heard a grumble from nearby. He looked at the source, and was met by orange pupils surrounded by darkness. He clutched his nail, and struck the bug. He heard it grumble as it fell to the ground. It stopped grumbling as it went still. He walked past it, quickly noticing the familiar temple from before. He let out a sigh as he thought to himself,  _ Poor kid. I wish I knew a way to get them out of that egg. I bet they would like to see at least one of their siblings. Crystal would like to see them. _ He quickly walked past, not wanting to follow that train of thought  _ too _ long.

He followed the path that the rooms created, sometimes heading in the wrong direction, but otherwise staying on the path. He came across a little platform that had steel bars blocking the way off of it. He let out a sigh before striking it with his nail. It made a  _ slight _ dent in the metal. He struck the top of the metal repeatedly until it disconnected from the ceiling of the cave system, then repeated it for the bottom. He barely pushed his hand against the metal, and watched as it gave way slightly. He pushed against the metal more, hearing a  _ pop _ as the bars disconnected from the frame. He heard it fall to the ground with a quiet  _ clang. _

He jumped down from the platform, and continued to follow the path leading down. He noticed a sign with some sort of beetle along the wall, leading into a room. He headed into the room, a slight sense of apprehension making itself known. For all he knew, the beetle could be infected just like the rest of the bugs down here. He clutched his nail, not dropping his guard until he noticed nobody was in the room. He quickly noted that there was just a bench, and some sort of machine off to the side of it. He headed out of the room, thinking to himself,  _ There’s more important things to deal with at the moment.  _ He continued following the path leading down. He carefully avoided the aspid’s attacks, acid burning through his cape as an aspid spit acid at him, and barely missed. He quickly struck a jumping, tall bug with his nail upon realizing it had orange eyes.

He headed into the next room, feeling a slight rumble under his feet. He felt the ground underneath him give way, dragging him down with it. He landed on his feet, and grimaced upon seeing more bugs with orange eyes. He quickly dispatched of the bugs, and tried to ignore the guilt forming in his chest. He quickly noticed a house with an open door to the left of him, and headed inside. He was greeted by a fly of short stature, one that he recognized quickly. He was about to wrap his teacher in a hug, but stopped short when he noticed a misty, orange cloud behind his teacher’s eyes. He thought to himself,  _ It’s more cloudy than most other bugs I’ve seen. Maybe that means he’s not fully infected yet? I hope so, I don’t want to die trying to figure out if he’s partially infected, or not. _

He stepped closer to his teacher.

“Sly? Are you still in there?”

He watched the orange disappear from his teacher’s eyes as he spoke. As soon as the orange disappeared completely, he scooped his teacher up into a hug. He felt tears flowing down his face as he thought to himself,  _ I was scared that I lost you. It’d be my fault for leaving you alone. _

He felt Sly rubbing circles into his back as he spoke, voice full of concern.

“Mato, what’s wrong? How did I get here? I remember a dream. It led me here.”

Mato sobbed, voice breaking.

“I thought I lost you! Every bug that succumbed to it, they lost control!”

Sly hugged Mato, continuing to rub circles into his back as he thought to himself,  _ If I want answers, I’ll have to calm him down first. At this rate, I’m concerned he’s going to cause himself to pass out.  _ He stopped hugging Mato briefly to get a view of his face.

“Mato, do you remember the breathing exercises that I taught you when you were young?”

Mato nodded, and Sly continued.

“Good. Do you think you could use one of them to calm yourself down?”

Mato nodded. He inhaled for four seconds, then held his breath for seven. He then exhaled for eight seconds, creating a quiet, but audible  _ whoosh  _ as he breathed out. He repeated that a couple more times as Sly continued rubbing circles into his back. He remembered what Mato had said earlier, and slowly pieced it together that he had started to get infected. He turned to Mato.

“Are you okay to head back up to Dirtmouth?”

Mato nodded, the two of them heading outside, and quickly making their way back to Dirtmouth. They reached the chain leading up the well, and Sly quickly climbed up, Mato doing the same once his teacher reached the top of the chain. Mato emerged from the well, and turned to where Elderbug was waiting for him. He quickly noticed his children sleeping next to each other on the bench. He heard Elderbug yell.

“I see you found Sly!”

Mato headed over to the bench, scooping Sarid into his arms, careful not to wake him, or disrupt his broken arm any more than it already was. He was about to try to scoop Crystal into his arms as well, before Sly walked over. Sly turned to Mato, smiling. Mato had given him a slight briefing on the way back. He handed the keys to his shop to Mato. He whispered, careful not to wake either of the children.

“I’ve got her, Mato. Please go unlock my shop, and set Sarid on the counter, it’s the closest thing I’ve got to a table at the moment.”

Mato nodded, and headed to the shop. He heard the doorknob click as he unlocked the door. He headed inside, and carefully laid Sarid on the counter. He turned around in time to see Sly handing Crystal to him. Mato was slightly confused until he realized there were no places where either of them would lay Crystal as she slept.

He watched Sly carefully set Sarid’s arm, stopping when the pain grew to be too much for the child. Mato comforted Sarid, and sang him a lullaby for him to focus on until the pain lessened. Once Sly had finished setting Sarid’s arm, he wrapped it in some kind of silk to stabilize it. Sly turned to Mato.

“Mato, you can stay here for the night. You look exhausted, and it’s best that you  _ don’t _ try scaling the cliff when you’re  _ that _ tired.”

Mato shook his head.

“You’ve done enough for us already, Sly.”

Sly shook his head, and clarified.

“It’s _not_ up for debate, Mato. It _never_ was. You’re staying here for the night.”

Mato was about to ask where they were going to sleep, but was interrupted by the shuffling of a blanket being spread across the floor. Crystal, and Sarid climbed into bed, and looked at Mato expectantly. Mato climbed into bed next to his children, and thought to himself,  _ I can’t say no to those faces.  _ He felt another blanket being draped across him, and he looked to the side to make sure his kids were also getting covered by the blanket. He turned to Sly.

“Thank you for everything, Dad. I love you, goodnight!”

He immediately hid his head in embarrassment upon realizing what he said. Sly smiled.

“I love you too, Son.”

Mato smiled as the lights flicked off in the shop that doubled as Sly’s house.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A couple of my HCs that factored into my writing in this chapter:
> 
> HC1: As a child, Mato would cry until he passed out if he got too upset over something.
> 
> HC2: Sly taught him breathing exercises because he didn't want Mato to get hurt by passing out.
> 
> HC3: Sly thinks of the Nailmasters as his sons, and the Nailmasters think of Sly as a father. (Oro won't admit it though.)
> 
> HC4: Mato has to be reminded to use the breathing exercises if he gets too upset because he doesn't really remember in the moment that he knows breathing exercises to calm himself down with.
> 
> Extra HC: Sheo, and Sly remind Mato to use his breathing exercises, but while Sly rubs his back, Sheo pats his back in a rhythm. Oro isn't good at comforting him though, he just kind of yells at Mato to use his breathing exercises because it secretly kind of causes him to panic a bit when Mato passes out, so he lashes out. Him yelling at Mato just causes Mato to cry harder, though, so if Sheo, or Sly are there, they make Oro go outside while they help Mato calm down.


	25. Breakfast at Sly's House

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Mato, Sarid, and Crystal have breakfast at Sly's house/shop.

Mato woke up, and realized that he had rolled off of the makeshift bed that Sly had created for him, and his children. He pushed himself onto his feet, his back protesting at his actions as he did so. He looked at his children, sleeping peacefully. He thought to himself,  _ I’m glad that they’re sleeping peacefully, it’s been a while since they’ve slept through the night without nightmares tormenting them.  _ He turned around upon hearing a set of quiet footsteps. His gaze fell upon Sly as he was setting his shop up for the day. Sly turned to Mato, and smiled.

“There’s breakfast on the table in the other room when you all are ready to eat. I hope pancakes are okay.”

Mato nodded, and chuckled.

“I don’t think they’ve tried pancakes yet. They might be a little hesitant to try it, especially Sarid. They’ll probably like them, however.”

Sly nodded.

“If either one of them doesn't like them, let me know. I’ll find something else for them to eat for breakfast.”

Mato nodded, and walked back over to his kids. He gently woke them up.

“Sarid, Crystal, you need to get up. Sly cooked us breakfast, and we don’t want it to get cold, do we?”

Crystal hopped up when ‘breakfast’ was mentioned. Sarid, however, didn’t budge. Mato heard a thought flow through his head.

“Five minutes.”

Mato heard Sly chuckling, and soon, he started chuckling as well. Mato sat down next to Sarid.

“You can go back to bed after you eat breakfast, alright?”

Sarid nodded, gently rubbing his eyes as he got out of bed. Crystal, and Sarid followed Mato to the table. The group sat down at the table. Mato took a bite of his pancakes, the sweet syrup creating a harmony as the taste blended together with the fruitful taste of the pancakes. He glanced over to Crystal, who had already shoved half of her pancakes into her body, the void rippling as the pancake entered her torso. He then glanced over to Sarid, who was hesitantly shoving a little piece of the pancake into his torso. The slight gleam of syrup was easily noticeable to Mato as Sarid pushed the pancake into his torso.

He glanced back over to Crystal, and noticed she had finished her pancakes. He yelled as she started reaching for Sarid’s pancakes when she thought he wasn’t looking.

“Crystal, those are Sarid’s pancakes! You leave them alone!”

Crystal quickly pulled her hand to her chest, and looked down, embarrassed. Mato realized that he could use that moment to teach Crystal a lesson.

“Do you want more pancakes?”

Crystal nodded, so Mato continued.

“Go ask Sly if he’ll make you more pancakes.”

Crystal nodded, and headed into the other room. Mato heard a thought flow through his head as Crystal spoke to Sly.

“Please? More pancakes?”

Sly walked into the room, Crystal following closely behind him. Sly walked over to the stove, and cooked a couple more pancakes for Crystal, and a couple more for Sarid. Sly turned to Crystal.

“These two are for you. The other two are for your brother, so you leave them alone unless he gives you permission to have them, alright?”

Crystal nodded, grabbing her pancakes. She quickly shoved them into her torso, then sat down next to Sarid. She watched Sarid finish his pancakes. Mato frowned slightly as he heard a thought flow through his head. Sly crossed his arms as he heard the same thought.

“Done? Can… I have… your pancakes?”

Mato noticed Sarid starting to shake. He started to get out of his chair to walk over to him to try to comfort him, but stopped when a medium-sized combination of soul, and void appeared above, and around his son. He watched as Crystal fell backwards into her chair. He saw Sly fall to the ground, clutching his antennae. He heard an extremely loud thought in his head, causing him to fall back into his chair.

“Mine!”

He walked over as black tears formed at the edges of Sarid’s eye sockets, and rolled down his face. Black tears quickly replaced the ones that fell from his face. He wrapped his son in a hug, and started rubbing circles into his back. He heard a thought in his head as Sarid continued to cry.

“Scary! Loud!”

Crystal carefully got out of her chair, and walked into the other room. She came back, dragging the blanket that was draped over the group the previous night. She wrapped it around Mato and Sarid. She hugged Sarid, wiping the tears from his eyes. Mato heard a thought flow through his head, which he figured was Crystal speaking to Sarid.

“Sarid, it’s okay. It’s okay. No more scary. The scary’s gone.”

She continued wiping the fresh tears that replaced the ones she wiped away until he stopped crying. Sly got up from where he had fallen, and walked over to the group.

“Sarid, what was that? I can understand why it scared you so bad, it was pretty loud. In fact, in terms of how loud it was, I think that’s on par with a vengefly king’s screech!”

Sarid nodded before starting to nod off. Mato chuckled quietly. Mato grabbed the blanket that was draped around his shoulders, and excused himself as he took Sarid to the other room. He laid him on the bed, and wrapped him in the blanket. Crystal ran into the room, and grabbed a piece of paper that was on the counter. She grabbed a pencil, and scawled something onto the paper. Mato looked at it, and smiled at Crystal. She placed the paper on the bed next to Sarid, writing visible that said,  _ Get Well Soon!  _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I think this chapter is mostly fluff.


	26. The Not so Long Trek Back Home

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Mato and the kids head back home.

Mato watched as Sarid quickly got out of bed, quickly grabbing the paper laying next to him. He turned to Mato, and pointed at him. Mato heard a thought flow through his head like butter.

“Is… from you?”

Mato shook his head, smiling.

“Go ask your sister. She might know who put it next to you.”

Sarid ran into the next room, quickly leading her back into the room where Mato was waiting. He had to suppress a chuckle as he heard Sarid talk to Crystal in his head.

“Crystal… You know… put the… paper? On bed?”

He heard Crystal respond in his head.

“Me!”

Sarid nodded, wrapping his sister in a hug. Mato smiled, and thought to himself,  _ I hope this means they’re healing from their trauma. They didn’t deserve any of what their lousy excuse of a dad put them through.  _ He was snapped out of his thoughts by a tug on his hand. He looked down to see Crystal holding his hand as he heard a thought flow into his head.

“You okay?”

Mato nodded, hoping to appease Crystal’s worries. Crystal hesitantly nodded before heading back over to Sarid, occasionally glancing back over to Mato. He thought to himself,  _ I don’t want Sly to see me break down again. Maybe I should go home and sleep for a bit? That might help a bit. _ He decided that they would leave Sly’s house that afternoon. He walked over to Sly, quickly grabbing the fly’s attention as his footsteps caused the floor to vibrate slightly. He waited until Sly looked at him.

“I think we’re going to head home now. Where do you want me to put the blankets?”

Sly shook his head.

“I’ll get the blankets, focus on getting you and your kids home, Mato.”

Mato nodded. He walked over to Crystal and Sarid. He went to tell them they were leaving soon, but was interrupted by a thought flowing through his head.

“We heard.”

Mato frowned.

“We’ll come back soon, alright?”

Sarid and Crystal nodded. They allowed Mato to scoop them into his arms. As Mato walked out the door, he yelled at Sly.

“Bye Dad!”

Mato headed over to the cliff leading to his home, and let Crystal climb onto his back. He carefully climbed up to the entrance to King’s Pass. He continued climbing, pulling himself over the last plateau leading to his house. He settled into a sitting position. Crystal climbed off of his back, and he heard a thought in his head as she tugged on his cape.

“Are… you tired?”

He nodded, thinking to himself,  _ She’s picking up how to talk in full sentences, she pauses sometimes, but I’m pretty sure sooner or later she’ll start talking without pauses. _

After a while, he got back up, and headed the rest of the way to his house, Crystal following closely behind. He laid Sarid in his bed, and Crystal crawled into her own bed. He tucked them both in, and laid down to rest for the night.


	27. There's a Reason (And I'll Get to the Bottom of It)

Sarid walked through the Forgotten Crossroads, careful not to end up fighting something he couldn't handle. He walked into a long hallway. He looked around, light reflecting off of shields and swords that a group of husks were carrying around with them. He turned around to leave unscathed, but heard the crunch of something beneath him. He turned around, hoping that the husks hadn’t heard. He started running away upon realizing the husks were advancing towards him, swords ready to strike the child. He rubbed his face as he collided with a wall that he didn’t remember seeing before. He turned around to run in another direction, but quickly realized he was surrounded by the husks from earlier. He grabbed the broken nail from his back, and silently threatened the husks, hoping they’d leave him alone.

He felt something cold and smooth slice through his torso. He fell to the ground as pain wracked his body. He heard a sickening  _ crack _ as his mask collided with the stone floor. His ears rung as he felt the husks continue slicing through his body with their swords. He felt tears roll down his face, falling onto the ground with quiet  _ plops. _ He looked up upon feeling nothing slice through his body for a while. He got up upon realizing the husks were gone at the moment. His body protested, commanding him to return to the ground, and sleep. He didn’t listen and felt something cold sliding down his face. He touched his face, and pulled back his hand to see what it was. It filled him with fear to see what was on his hand.

He ran until he found a small hole in the ceiling of a room that he entered. He hastily climbed up, ignoring the pain wracking his body in protest at his actions. He popped his head out of the tunnel, being greeted by a vast, gray wasteland. He noticed a bug crawling back, and forth, paying no mind to him. He carefully got out of the tunnel, and struck the bug with his nail. It fell onto its side, falling deathly still. He felt something hit him in the head as he reached to grab it. He fell to the ground, hearing a  _ crack _ from his mask as he hit the ground. He stood up, ignoring the void falling from his mask onto the ground with quiet, but audible  _ plops. _ He grabbed the nail from his back, but was thrown to the ground as something hit him in the head again. His nail flew from his hand, landing nearby. He felt light-headed, and tired. He ran over, and grabbed his nail. He turned around, and saw some sort of fly diving at him. He ducked, allowing the fly to turn around, and knock him onto his face. He watched the fly grab his meal. He tried to get up, but fell to the ground, cracking his mask even more in the process. He felt fresh tears roll down his face as he watched the bug fly away with his meal.

He crawled into a nearby hole in the ground, and laid down. He felt tears continue to cascade down his face. He felt something cold pooling around him, which he figured was probably void leaking from his mask, and injuries. He silently spoke to himself, closing his eyes.

“Tired.”

He opened his eyes, the familiar surroundings of Mato’s house barely lessening the fear he felt. He heard Mato walk into his room.

“Sarid, breakfast is ready.”

He got out of bed, expecting to feel some pain, but none came. He followed Mato into the other room, and sat down at the table. Crystal sat down in the chair next to his. Mato gave them each a couple biscuits with grape jelly. He felt soul, and void mixing together, the void inside of him frantically mixing with soul, despite his wishes. He felt like the mixture of soul, and void was screaming at him,  _ Scream! Do something! Protect what is yours! If you don’t, it’ll get taken away! _ He didn’t like it when he screamed. It scared him to know that he could do that. He didn’t want to hurt  _ anyone. _ He noticed Crystal reaching towards an area around his breakfast. He thought to himself,  _ Don’t take my food! Please! I don’t want to starve! _ He felt an explosion of soul, and void form around him as he screamed. He barely felt the tears falling down his face.

“Please don’t take my food! I don’t want to starve again!”

Crystal reeled back in shock as the scream nearly connected with her mask. Mato covered his ears uselessly, the scream still bouncing around in his head. He uncovered his ears after the scream dissipated, and walked over to Sarid. He gave him a gentle hug.

“Sarid, we’re not going to run out of food any time soon. It’s okay. You’re not going to starve  _ ever _ again if I can help it.”

Mato wiped the tears from Sarid’s face as he listened to a thought in his head.

“Promise?”

Mato nodded.

“I promise.”

Mato grabbed a shellwood nail from nearby, and turned to Sarid, then Crystal.

“Would you two like to learn to defend yourselves, or wait a bit? I think you two should learn to defend yourselves at  _ some _ point, but there’s no rush at the moment.”

Crystal nodded. Sarid thought to himself,  _ He’ll throw me away if I disagree. I don’t want to be thrown away! He won’t throw me away if I agree. I have to agree, or else he’ll throw me away. _ Sarid nodded, trying to act as calm as he could be.

Mato led Sarid and Crystal outside, and handed them one shellwood nail each. Crystal ran up to Mato, and started gently hitting him with the nail. Mato smiled.

“I’ll teach you how to attack later, alright?”

Crystal nodded, and followed Mato’s demonstrations of how to block attacks. Once she got the basic idea, she walked over to Sarid, and excitedly hugged him. Sarid walked over to Mato, trying to continue acting like he wasn’t scared. Mato helped him get into the correct defensive stance before dropping into an offensive stance.

Sarid felt his breathing quicken, remembering the husks that had tried to kill him before. Their stance was almost identical. He could feel the husk’s swords slashing through his torso. He could smell his blood as it pooled around him. He could feel, and hear his mask cracking as he fell to the ground.

Mato ran over, picking Sarid up, and taking him into the house. He sat him on his bed, hoping it’d help him calm down some. He grabbed Sarid’s hands as he began clawing at the cracks in his mask, black blood flowing from the reopened wounds. He spoke, trying to sound as calm as possible.

“Sarid, it’s okay. You’re having a flashback. Your brain thinks you’re back there, but you’re not. You’re at home, and you’re safe. Can you tell me a couple things you can feel right now?”

Sarid shakily nodded.

“My head hurts. Your hands. The blanket.”

Mato nodded.

“You’re doing great, Sarid. Can you tell me a couple things you can see?”

Sarid nodded, less shaky than before.

“You. The table where we eat. Crystal.”

Mato nodded.

“Good. How’s your breathing?”

Sarid started to panic slightly as he realized how fast he was breathing, but reached up to the headband Mato wore, and rubbed it between his fingers.

“Fast. Feel your headband.”

Mato nodded.

“I’m glad that you’re learning what to do when you’re scared. Do you want me to lead you through a breathing exercise I learned when I was younger?”

Sarid nodded. Mato continued.

“Okay. Sarid, try breathing in for four seconds, then hold it for seven seconds.”

Sarid nodded, inhaling for four seconds, then holding his breath for seven seconds. Mato spoke.

“Now exhale for eight seconds.”

Sarid exhaled, some of the tension leaving his body. Mato had him repeat that a couple more times. Sarid slumped against Mato, exhaustion quickly overtaking him. Mato smiled, carefully getting off the bed as he tried to keep from waking his son. He noticed Crystal crawling into his bed, and plop down next to him. He watched as she wrapped her hands around him in a hug. He tucked them both in, and headed to his own bed. He laid down in his bed, and let unconsciousness take him.


	28. I Don't Know Who I Am

Mato carefully got out of bed, and glanced over to his children. They were sleeping mostly peacefully, occasionally tossing, or turning over in their sleep, but nothing that indicated a nightmare. He smiled as he walked over to the stove, grabbing a frying pan, and grabbing a couple eggs. He quickly cooked half a dozen eggs for his children, and him to share. He popped a couple pieces of bread into the toaster. He walked over to his children, and gently woke them from their slumber. He heard a thought flow through his head, which he figured came from both of his children as he felt a slight weariness tug at the back of his mind.

“Dad, five more minutes?”

He carefully picked up his children, being especially careful when picking up Sarid, as his arm was still healing. He carried them over to the table, and sat them down in separate seats. He walked over to the counter near the stove, grabbing three plates. He heard the toast pop up beside him as he walked over to the eggs on the stove. He quickly put two eggs on each plate, as well as a piece of toast on each. He walked over to the table, setting a plate in front of each of his children, before sitting down at the opposite end of the table.

He glanced up to see Crystal giving Sarid her piece of toast. He figured she might not be as hungry as when they ate later in the day. He heard a thought in his head as Sarid tried to hand her toast back, slight determination flowing into him.

“Sarid, it’s okay. You keep it.”

He watched Crystal walk over to the counter, and grab another piece of bread before bringing it over to the table. He heard another thought in his head as Crystal showed Sarid the piece of bread.

“There’s plenty of food. Nobody’s starving here.”

Sarid thought for a moment before hesitantly nodding in agreement. He thought to himself,  _ Food never lasts. It never has before. We’ll run out of food eventually. It’ll be awhile before that happens, though. _ Sarid felt his breathing even back out as he realized that. Sarid finished his breakfast, only sometimes warily looking around to make sure nobody tried to take his food away from him. Sarid continued sitting in his chair, waiting for Crystal to finish eating her breakfast.

Mato thought to himself,  _ I’ll need to teach them to defend themselves eventually, but they’re terrified of getting attacked, if not killed by anyone holding any kind of weapon near them. That could be the difference between life and death if that fear causes them to freeze up, or have a flashback like Sarid did. Crystal tried to act as calm as she could, but she was shaking, and looked like she was about to cry. I wonder if exposing them to a nail, or some kind of weapon in a safe environment for a short amount of time, and increasing the time once they grow desensitized to it by a set amount of time would help? It might help, it’ll take a long time, but I want them to be able to defend themselves if I can’t get to them fast enough. Maybe, if I would have taught Crystal to defend herself, or at the very least escape a tough situation, she wouldn’t have fallen from the cliff due to the vengeflies… _

A tug on his arm snapped him out of his thoughts, and he looked over. He was greeted by the face of Crystal, Sarid standing close behind her. He noticed both of them were shaking slightly, tears brimming at the corners of their eyes. Concern, and fear barrelled into him as a thought flowed into his head.

“Dad, are you okay? You spaced out. I thought you might have fallen asleep with your eyes open. I thought you might have started dreaming. Yellow dreams. I didn’t know what to do! I thought you might have come back bad when you snapped out of it...”

He hugged Crystal as black tears overflowed from her eyes, quickly snaking their way down her face. He gently rubbed small circles into her back as her silently crying quickly turned into sobs as she finished speaking. He noticed Sarid shaking, tears rolling down his cheeks. He motioned for him to come closer so he could comfort him, but he wouldn’t come closer, seemingly not noticing his dad.

Sarid thought to himself,  _ Dad’s comforting Crystal. She deserves comfort from Dad. You’re imperfect, flawed. You’ll get thrown away if you go to get comforted. You got thrown away for it last time. Stop crying. You’ll get thrown away if you go to get a hug. You don’t deserve comfort. You’re imperfect. Impure. You’re impure. You deserved to be thrown away. Pale Dad was right. Dad should throw you away now. You won't be good enough. You'll never be good enough. He'll realize you're impure, and throw you away. You'd deserve it. _

Crystal looked back at Sarid, and struggled her way out of Mato’s grip. She ran over to her brother, and hugged him. She projected thoughts to him as she continued hugging him.

“Sarid, you’re okay. You won’t get thrown away for getting comforted. Dad won’t throw us away.”

She wiped the tears from Sarid’s eyes, and slowly led him over to their dad. Sarid looked at Mato, tears quickly starting to run down his face again. Mato hugged him, holding him close to his chest. He felt the tension leave Sarid’s body as he spoke.

“Nobody’s getting thrown away here. You don’t have to be perfect, you don’t have to be a hero. You just have to be yourselves here, nothing more, nothing less.”

He felt Sarid snuggle into his collar as he heard a thought flow through his head.

“I don’t know who I am…”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> How are you supposed to know who you are when all you know is fear, worry, and having to fight to survive? Time. Give yourself time to heal, and you'll learn.


	29. Intentional Insomnia Is Not a Good Coping Mechanism

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sarid realizes he can't have a nightmare if he stays awake. He stays awake, but it doesn't work out like he thought it would.

Mato had tucked Sarid and Crystal into bed hours ago. Sarid pretended to be asleep, and waited for everyone to fall asleep. He felt scared, too scared to sleep. He thought to himself,  _ What if I have a nightmare tonight? I don’t want to have a nightmare. If I stay awake, I won’t have a nightmare! _ He carefully got out of bed, being careful to keep from waking anybody up. He felt the void and soul mixing inside of him. He felt like screaming. He looked to his sister, sleeping peacefully in her bed. He thought to himself,  _ Can’t scream! Can’t wake my sister! Can’t wake Dad! _ He started pacing back and forth on the opposite side of the room as the beds. He started scratching the cracks in his mask, the pain distracting him from the urge to scream. He remembered the way the Pale King would react to his siblings being awake at night. He started scratching more ferociously at the cracks in his mask, the pain distracting him from the memory. His mind wandered to the day he was thrown into the abyss. He could see the white, shimmering floor of the arena in the White Palace. He could see the sibling that he was meant to fight until either of them couldn’t fight for a couple days. He could see the sibling rush towards him, slashing their nail across his torso. He could feel his blood running down his leg, the cold causing him to shiver slightly.

He barely registered that he had grabbed a piece of his mask where the crack was open enough for him to grasp both sides of his mask. He yanked as hard as he could, the snapping sound barely echoing through the room barely snapping him out of his thoughts. He felt immense pain flood his senses, muting his thoughts as the pain quickly pushed its way to the forefront of his mind. He screamed as the pain hit him full force, and collapsed to the ground.

Mato awoke to the sound of Sarid screaming, followed by a  _ thud. _ He quickly jumped out of bed, rushing into the other room. He quickly looked around the room, noticing Sarid wasn’t in his bed. He looked to the floor as he registered the sound of tears hitting the ground. He ran over as he noticed Sarid was curled up on the ground. He noticed a piece of Sarid’s mask was uncleanly broken, if the jagged edges remaining were anything to go by. He ran to grab a couple washcloths as he noticed black blood flowing from the injury. He quickly came back with damp washcloths, and put them on the wound, hoping to stem the bleeding by a bit. He applied pressure as he scooped Sarid into his arms, and sat down on the ground. He sat Sarid in his lap, being careful to continue applying pressure to the injury to his mask. He looked at his son, feeling tears prick at the corners of his eyes. He wanted to take the pain away from him, but couldn’t. He wiped his eyes, then spoke.

“Sarid, what can you see around you?”

Sarid looked at him. Mato heard a thought flow through his head, unfiltered fear oozing from it.

“You, Crystal, and the dining table.”

Mato nodded.

“You’re doing great, Sarid. What can you hear?”

He heard a thought flow through his head, less fear oozing from it.

“Crystal sleeping.”

Mato looked at his son, slightly confused.

“That doesn’t make noise.”

Sarid nodded as Mato heard a thought in his head.

“Exactly. Means she isn’t having a nightmare.”

Mato nodded, a small smile forming on his face.

He heard a yawn in his head, and looked at Sarid.

“Are you ready to go back to bed?”

Sarid hesitantly nodded. Mato spoke, concern for his son welling in him.

“Do you want to sleep in my bed tonight?”

Sarid nodded, allowing Mato to carry him to his bed. Mato threw the bloody washcloths in the laundry hamper, and carefully bandaged the hole in his son’s mask. Mato crawled into his bed, and helped Sarid into his bed. He waited until Sarid fell asleep, then quickly drifted off.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Are there any therapists in Hallownest that the children can go to? If not, I'll make another OC to be their therapist!


	30. Flawed Logic

Mato got out of bed, being careful not to disturb Sarid’s slumber. He looked outside, hearing a dripping noise from outside. He noticed rain quickly falling from the sky. He turned around, hearing quiet footsteps from behind him. He smiled, and whispered.

“Good morning, Crystal.”

He heard a thought enter his head, followed by a feeling of concern.

“Is Sarid okay? He didn’t have bandages around his mask last night.”

Mato frowned.

“He had a rough night.”

Crystal nodded as her stomach growled.

Mato smiled.

“Would you like to help me make breakfast? Then we’ll wake Sarid up to eat.”

Crystal nodded. Mato got out a frying pan, and turned to Crystal.

“Can you please get the eggs out of the fridge for me?”

Crystal nodded, quickly running over to the fridge, and opening it. She scanned the shelves inside, looking for the eggs. She turned back to Mato. He heard a thought inside his head.

“Dad, we’re out of eggs.”

Mato hummed in contemplation about what he could cook instead. He felt a light tapping on his arm, so he looked to his side. He heard a thought flow through his head as his gaze fell upon Crystal, excitedly swaying from side to side.

“Can we have grilled cheeses?”

Mato chuckled.

“That’s not breakfast food, but sure. Just this time, though, okay?”

Crystal nodded, quickly grabbing the cheese from the fridge, and the bread from the counter. She handed them to her dad, watching as he cooked the sandwich, making sure not to burn the bread, but melt the cheese thoroughly. He handed it to Crystal. He watched as she ran to her brother’s side, and gently patted his arm until he woke up. He heard a thought run through his head, a mix of confusion, and slight sadness.

“Why? It’s your grilled cheese.”

Crystal shook her head, another through flowing into Mato’s head. Concern oozed from it.

“Dad’s making both of us breakfast. This one can be yours.”

Sarid shook his head as Mato heard another thought run through his head.

“Not hungry.”

Sarid was betrayed by the growling of his stomach. Mato heard another thought flow through his head, concern quickly following it. Sarid tensed up as he heard the thought in his head.

“Sarid, you’re lying. Why?”

Sarid shook his head before hopping out of his bed. He bolted towards the door. Mato ran towards the door, but Sarid beat him to the door. He watched in disbelief as his son ran out the door, not sparing a glance back towards either of them. Crystal followed Mato outside, wanting to help look for her brother. Mato searched around, alert for any sign of where his son went. He remembered when Sarid fell over the ledge, and broke his arm. He screamed, tears running down his cheeks.

“Sarid, please come out! You don’t have to tell me what’s wrong, or even speak if you don’t want to. I just want to know that you’re okay.”

He heard a thought enter his head, confusion and hurt following it.

“Why do you care about me? It’d be better for you to forget about me. Forget you ever met me. I just cause problems. Pale Dad was right for throwing me away. You should throw me away too.”

Mato thought he heard the quiet, almost inaudible  _ plops _ of tears hitting the ground. He followed the sound, stopping at a familiar cavern in the ground. Crystal looked at him before darting into the cavern. He heard a thought flow into his head, a spark of joy, quickly overshadowed by concern, following it.

“Sarid, if you deserve to be thrown away, then so do I.”

Mato really hoped she didn’t think that about herself, but had a feeling that after everything the kids have been through, they both probably felt that way about themselves. He felt disbelief as a thought flowed into his head. He figured the thought was from Sarid.

“You don’t deserve it! I do.”

He wanted to go into the cavern, and comfort Sarid, but knew that it was probably better for them to talk about their shared feelings with each other first. He figured once they both talked, they’d both come out of the cavern. He heard another thought in his head, skepticism flooding his mind.

“If I didn’t deserve it, then why did you deserve it?”

He heard another thought enter his mind, disbelief and anger quickly following it.

“He threw me away, so I must have deserved it!”

He heard another thought enter his mind, laced with confusion and skepticism.

“If him throwing you away meant you deserved it, then I deserved it too! He also threw me away, you know.”

He watched as Sarid ran out of the cavern, tears in his eyes. He heard a thought in his head as Sarid looked at him.

“Dad, Crystal didn’t deserve being thrown away, but she doesn’t believe me!”

Mato shook his head, and bent down to get on eye level with his child.

“Sarid, she’s trying to help you understand where your logic is flawed, by applying your logic to her experience.”

Sarid thought for a moment before nodding. Mato continued.

“For example, you said she didn’t deserve being thrown away, but you do. She applied your logic to her experience of being thrown away to try to help you see that if you apply your logic to her experience, and it doesn’t make sense, then it shouldn’t make sense with your experience, either. In other words, if she didn’t deserve being thrown away, even though she was, then neither did you.”

Sarid nodded, and turned around to see Crystal crawling out of the cavern. Crystal ran over to him, the rain quickly washing the dirt off of her mask. Sarid hugged her, and Crystal quickly returned the hug. Mato heard a thought in his head.

“Thank you, Crystal. If you didn’t deserve being thrown away, then neither do I!”

Crystal nodded excitedly as Mato heard another thought in his head.

“Exactly!”

Mato smiled, and walked over to his kids.

“Do you two want to head back home? I think your clothes need to be dried.”

Crystal and Sarid looked down at their cloaks, then back up at Mato. They nodded, quickly walking with their dad back home. Mato reached into a nearby closet, and took out a dark green shirt, and a purple shirt. He turned to his kids.

“Which one of my kids wants which shirt?”

Crystal ran over, quickly claiming the purple shirt. She ran to a corner of the house where nobody would see her. She quickly changed out of her cloak into the shirt. She walked back over to her dad, and noticed that Sarid was nowhere to be seen. She looked at her dad as a thought flowed into his head.

“Where’s Sarid? What do I do with my cloak?”

Mato responded.

“He went into a corner of the house to change. Do you want to keep your cloak? If you don’t want it anymore, I can get rid of it.”

Crystal pondered for a while. She thought to herself,  _ I kind of like my cloak, but I’m getting new clothes. Plus, the cloak reminds me of Pale Dad, and the White Palace. _ She looked at Mato, and handed him her cloak. Mato heard a thought flow through his head.

“I don’t want to keep it.”

Mato nodded in understanding, and took it outside. Crystal watched as he walked back in, the cloak missing from his hand. Sarid walked into the room, holding his cloak. He immediately handed it to Mato. Mato heard a thought in his head, happiness almost instantly following.

“I have new clothes! Dad, I got a new shirt! Can you please get rid of my cloak? It has some bad memories attached to it.”

Mato nodded, heading outside, and disposing of the cloak. He came back inside, and heard a yawn in his head. He quickly heard another yawn in his head. He felt an urge to yawn, and he did. He chuckled as he looked at his kids.

“Guess we should all go to bed, huh?”

Crystal quickly crawled into her bed, and Sarid crawled into his bed. Mato tucked them both in, the soft blankets providing a decent amount of warmth for the children. He crawled into his bed, and thought back to when Sarid tried staying up all night to avoid nightmares. He got out of bed, and walked over to Sarid’s bed. He whispered.

“Are you actually asleep?”

He watched as Sarid shook his head, tears in his eyes. Mato heard a thought in his head, fear oozing from it.

“Am I in trouble?”

Mato shook his head.

“Until we get you a nightlight, do you think it’d help you sleep if you slept with your sister or me?”

Sarid nodded, allowing Mato to scoop him into his arms. Mato whispered.

“Do you want to sleep with me, or your sister tonight?”

Sarid pointed at his dad, so Mato carried him over to his bed. Mato sat Sarid at the end of his bed. Mato carefully laid down, allowing Sarid to have room to sleep. Sarid crawled up, and nuzzled into Mato’s side.

Mato smiled, but spoke up.

“Sarid, I don’t think you should sleep there. I might roll over in my sleep.”

Sarid nodded, and crawled near Mato’s face. Mato watched as he drifted off before quickly drifting off himself.


	31. Dreams Aren't Always Good Things

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Someone is in Mato's dreams tonight. He feels like he shouldn't trust them, but it seems he has no choice in the matter.

Mato looked around, curious as to how he got here. A beautiful, shimmering, pale yellow sky laid in front of him, clouds littering the sky. He heard a feminine voice, sweet like honey.

“Nailmaster, you want to be a good father to your children. You want to ease their pain, however you don’t fully know how. I could help you ease their pain.”

Mato shook his head, his gut was telling something was  _ seriously _ wrong with the situation. He replied, voice soft, hoping not to anger whoever he was talking to. He felt like that  _ wouldn’t _ end well.

“Thank you for the offer, but I believe I’ll decline. It’s a good offer, really, but I want to learn how to help them by  _ myself.” _

He shielded his eyes as the pale sky quickly brightened. He heard the voice speak, the sweetness from the voice gone completely, replaced by bitter rage.

“Nailmaster, you  _ never _ had a choice in the matter. I will  _ not _ allow you to decline my offer.”

Orange flooded Mato’s vision. His gut twisted as he heard the voice from before speak, echoing inside his head. Two words stuck out to him the most. He could almost hear the snicker of the female as she spoke inside his head.

“I’ll  _ take care _ of the children.”


	32. Orange Eyes Wearing a Red Headband

Crystal crawled out of bed. She felt someone tackle her. She looked to her side, quickly noticing tears streaming down Sarid’s face. His short arms wrapped around her in a hug. She silently spoke, concern for her brother evident in her voice.

“Sarid, what’s wrong?”

She heard a thought in her head, fear and concern quickly following it.

“There’s something wrong with Dad. He won’t wake up!”

Crystal followed Sarid as he ran into the other room. She looked at Mato, who was still asleep, breathing heavily. She silently yelled as she patted her dad’s arm.

“Dad! Wake up! Please!”

She felt joy flow through her body as Mato’s eyes shot open. She jumped back as she looked into his eyes. She ran to Sarid’s side, tugging on his hand. Sarid heard a thought flow through his head, feeling despair upon hearing it.

“Sarid, we have to go.  _ Now.” _

Sarid fled the house along with his sister. They ran to the cliff that Mato would jump down to get to Dirtmouth. They came to a stop at the edge of the cliff. They looked behind them, seeing their dad looking for them. They both knew  _ that _ bug wasn’t their dad  _ anymore. _

Crystal looked over the edge of the cliff, and turned to Sarid. She silently spoke, her words appearing as a thought in Sarid’s head.

“We have to jump.”

Sarid shook his head as he started to shake. Crystal grabbed his hand, and stepped closer to the ledge. Sarid heard a thought in his head.

“We don’t have much choice. Either we jump and we  _ might _ die, or we stay here, and let whatever has control of our dad’s body kill  _ us. _ Either we  _ might _ die if we jump, or we most likely  _ will _ die if we don’t jump. Which one sounds like the better option to you?”

Crystal heard a thought in her head.

“Let’s jump, and hope we  _ don’t _ die.”

Crystal nodded, and jumped from the ledge with Sarid. She was surprised to not hear anything in either of their bodies break upon landing. They jumped from the next ledge, landing in the middle of the pathway leading to Dirtmouth. Crystal heard a  _ snap  _ as she landed, and another as Sarid landed. She helped Sarid to his feet, ignoring the pain in her left leg as she helped him to Sly’s shop. She knocked on the door, and tried to keep from putting too much pressure on her left leg as Sarid and she waited for Sly to open the door.

Sly opened the door, and immediately noticed a missing member from the group. He turned to Crystal, then Sarid, worry etching itself onto his face.

“Where’s Mato? He always comes with you two.”

He invited Sarid and Crystal inside as they started silently crying. He got them a box of tissues. He softly rubbed both of their backs, hoping to help them calm down. He heard a thought in his head as Crystal looked at him. Worry, fear, and despair came with the thought.

“Dad’s eyes are orange! I think whatever caused his eyes to look like that wants to hurt us!”

Sly sighed.

“Crystal, it sounds like Mato’s infected.”

Crystal thought back to when she got infected, the look on her dad’s face, the voice screaming at her to kill her dad. She didn’t, but instead, in a sense, killed herself. Sly heard a thought in his head.

“I got infected before. I died, then came back fine. Can Dad do that?”

Sly shook his head.

“Mato can’t be disinfected like that, unfortunately. Wait, you were infected at one time, Crystal?”

Crystal nodded as a thought flowed through Sly’s head.

“A voice was screaming at me to kill my dad. It was scary! I didn’t want to hurt my dad, so I didn’t.”

Sly looked at her, puzzled.

“Did you kill anyone?”

Crystal looked away, and hesitantly nodded. Sly frowned.

“Who did you kill?”

Crystal looked at Sly, tears in her eyes, and pointed to herself. Sly gasped.

“Crystal, please never do that again. You probably scared your dad really bad. How did you come back?”

Crystal was silent for a moment before Sly heard a thought in his head.

“Dad fixed my mask the best he could, then I went back inside of it.”

Sly became even more confused.

“What do you mean by you ‘went back inside of it’?”

Sly heard another thought in his head, a hint of sadness coming with it.

“I was a ghost. It scared Dad at first, but then he fixed my mask. I can’t really talk while I’m a ghost.”

Sly hugged her.

“What do you mean you can’t talk as a ghost? You can talk right now, sure, it’s not a conventional way of communicating, but it works just like the other ways.”

He heard a thought inside his head, a tinge of sadness following it.

“It made Dad’s head hurt when I spoke as a ghost.”

Sly nodded, frowning.

“Where’s your dad? I could see if it isn’t too late to save him.”

He heard a thought in his head.

“Outside, either in the cliffs, or heading this way.”

Sly nodded, then walked to the door. He turned around to face Crystal and Sarid.

“You two stay here. If your dad gets disinfected, then I’ll bring him back here.”

Crystal and Sarid watched as Sly walked out the door. They hoped that he would be able to save their dad.


	33. Departure of a Father

Sly stepped out of his house, and headed right. He saw Mato jump down from the cliff, his nail clutched in his hand. He walked a bit closer to Mato, and waited for him to notice him. His son’s glowing, orange pupils reminded him of the stakes of the situation. He softly spoke, tears pricking at the corners of his eyes.

“Mato, do you recognize me? Your teacher, your dad? Please come back to us, Mato. Crystal and Sarid miss you.”

He thought he saw the glowing orange in his son’s eyes dim briefly as he talked. He continued.

“You recognize me? Do you remember Crystal and Sarid? Do those names sound familiar?”

Mato nodded, the orange glow dimming more. Sly turned around as he heard the door to his shop open. He saw Crystal and Sarid run straight for their dad. He quickly stopped Sarid, and picked him up, but failed to catch Crystal before she ran to her dad. She hugged him tightly, not noticing the orange glow returning to his eyes. Sly watched in horror as Mato raised his nail to strike Crystal. Sly looked away as he brought the nail down, making sure to cover Sarid’s eyes.

He expected to hear a  _ crack _ resonate through the air, but was met with nothing. He slowly turned around to see Mato had stopped himself from skewering his kid on his nail at the last moment. He noticed there was still an orange glow in his son’s eyes, along with orange tears that were pouring down his face.

Mato quickly grabbed Crystal, and shoved her into Sly’s arms. He turned around without a second thought, and ran to the cliffside. Sarid ran after him. He started climbing the cliffside. Sarid tried to climb the cliff as well, but kept losing his grip. Sly gripped Crystal in his arms as she struggled in his grip. He sat down to try to comfort Crystal as she cried. He heard Sarid screaming in his head.

“Dad, come back! Please!”

He watched Sarid fall to the ground, tears falling from his face. He was shaking as silent sobs wracked his body.


	34. I Want My Dad (Please)

Sly walked over to Sarid, who was silently crying near the cliffs. He tapped his shoulder to get his attention. Sarid turned to him, black tears staining his face as they rolled down. He spoke, voice soft.

“Sarid, lets go to my shop.”

Sarid shook his head as more tears flowed down his face. Sly heard a thought in his head, sadness encompassing him as it flowed through his head.

“I want my dad…”

Sly sighed, scooping Sarid into his arms the best he could.

“I know, Sarid. I know.”

He carried the children into his shop, and sat them both on the counter. He quickly set out the blanket, and pillows to create a makeshift bed for the two. He looked at Crystal’s legs, and then Sarid’s legs. He turned to the two children.

“Can you two please stand up? I want to make sure you two didn’t break anything.”

Crystal nodded, and she got up. Sarid got up as well, flinching when he tried to put his right leg down. Sly hummed.

“Okay, Crystal, I’m going to take care of your brother’s leg first. He can’t put his foot down without pain. Don’t worry, I know you’re in pain too, so I’ll fix your leg right after.”

Crystal nodded, and carefully sat down. Sarid laid down, allowing Sly to touch his leg. He flinched as Sly touched the skin over the fracture. Sly looked at his face.

“I’m going to put a splint on your leg.”

Sarid nodded, watching as Sly grabbed some long, slender pieces of wood, and silk. Sly walked back over to him, and carefully tied the pieces of wood to the sides of his right leg. Sly did the same for Crystal’s left leg. He heard a thought in his head as Crystal looked at him.

“I want my dad…”

Sly frowned as he gave her a hug.

“Unfortunately, I don’t think you can see your dad again...”

He wiped the tears from Sarid and Crystal’s eyes after he said that. He heard a thought in his head as Sarid looked at him, tears in his eyes. The sadness that came along with the thought nearly caused Sly to cry.

“What do you mean? Why?”

Sly frowned before clarifying.

“Usually when bugs are partially infected, like your dad seemed to be, they can be disinfected by their family and friends if they’re fast enough. However, if the infected bug flees, they end up fully infected.”

He heard a thought in his head as black tears started to stream down both childrens’ faces.

“We want our dad… Please…”

Sly walked over to them, and started rubbing their backs in small circles. He hid his face from both of them as he felt tears prick at the corners of his eyes before streaming down his face.

“I want my son to be okay too, little ones…”


	35. Molting to Grow

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Crystal is molting, and Sarid is concerned until Sly explains what's happening to his sister.

Sly lazily got out of bed, rubbing the sleep from his eyes. He walked into the other room, glancing at Sarid and Crystal on his way to the kitchen. He grabbed a frying pan from the cabinet, and quickly cooked Sarid and Crystal two eggs each. He also cooked himself two eggs, and hastily ate his eggs before walking into the room that his two grandkids were sleeping in. He noticed Sarid was already awake, trying to wake Crystal, but failing. Sarid turned to Sly upon hearing him step into the room, tears rolling down his cheeks. Sly could see the faint stains on Sarid’s mask from tears that had already been shed. He walked over to Sarid, and wrapped him in a hug. Sly heard a thought in his head, concern, and fear quickly following it.

“She won’t wake up, just like Dad! She moves sometimes too. Just like when he got infected… Is she infected? I don’t want to lose my sister too…”

Sly looked over Crystal, noting the nearly invisible covering on her mask that looked close enough to her mask to be uncomfortable. He noticed that on her legs, and feet the same covering could be found. He turned to Sarid, and calmly spoke.

“Sarid, it’s okay. She’s molting.”

He continued upon seeing Sarid tilt his head to the side in a silent question.

“Molting is when a bug grows too big for their exoskeleton, or their outer skin. They shed it off, and a new layer of skin is already formed underneath the old layer. It helps them grow, but it can take a few days. It helps them grow taller, and stronger.”

He carefully showed Sarid the covering on Crystal’s mask.

“That’s her outer skin, you most likely have it on you too. You probably won’t really notice it until you’re about to molt, however.”

Sarid nodded. Sly quickly brought Sarid’s breakfast into the room, figuring he probably wanted to stay near his sister as she molted.


	36. I'm Coming Home

_ In the Wastelands near the Howling Cliffs _

Mato clicked his mandibles together as he watched his surroundings for any sign of food. He noticed a stray vengefly king that had wandered into the Wastelands. He quickly pounced on it, his mandibles slicing through its exoskeleton with ease. He felt something wet slide down his face as he tore apart the vengefly king as he ate.

He left half of it uneaten as he felt an urge to save some for someone close to him. He could remember two little ones that he needed to protect. He could also remember a third little one that protected him. He made a purring sound as he thought of the three. He felt a pull towards the east of him. He grabbed the remainder of the vengefly king with his mandibles before sprinting to the east.

He stopped near a nail on the way, and looked at the reflective surface. He saw a clear reflection of his face, and looked away upon feeling the pull from earlier  _ strengthen. _ He  _ bolted _ to the east, carrying the vengefly king in his mandibles. He jumped from a cliff that led to a town. He landed on another small cliff, so he jumped from that one too.

He could  _ faintly _ recognize the shop standing in front of him, so he walked up to the door. He purred, the sound muffled by the vengefly king in his mouth as he knocked on the door.


	37. I'm Back Home

Sly heard knocking at the door to his shop. As he got closer to the door, he could hear someone purring. He opened the door, and immediately recognized the figure standing in front of him. He looked over his shoulder, and yelled.

“Sarid! Your dad’s back home!”

Mato felt someone tackle him. He quickly looked down. He purred as he hugged his son. He looked at Sly upon realizing that Crystal was nowhere to be seen. He started squeaking as he looked around for his daughter. Sly put a hand on his son’s shoulder, concern etching itself onto his features.

“Mato, are you okay?”

Mato hugged his dad, purring, and squeaking. He thought to himself, _Where’s my daughter? Is she okay?_ The more he thought, the more he squeaked. Mato heard his dad speak.

“Mato, do you remember how to speak?”

Mato frowned as he spoke.

 _“Squeak_ Crystal? _Squeak”_

Sly smiled.

“She’s in the other room. We’ll work on your speech after you hang out with your kids.”

Mato purred as he ran into the other room. He glanced around the room, his gaze quickly falling on his daughter, wriggling as she continued molting. Mato laid down next to her, and purred. After a while, he started trilling, cheering on his daughter. He watched as the back of her new exoskeleton around her mask poked through an opening in the old exoskeleton. He purred before quickly continuing to trill. Sly smiled as he watched from the doorway.


	38. Mato the Cat

Mato noticed Sly in the doorway. He got up, and walked over to him. He purred as he dropped the half of the vengefly king that he was carrying into Sly’s hands. Sly thanked his son, and quickly put the half in the fridge. He walked back to the room that his son was in to find him laying next to Crystal, starting to trill again. Sly smiled as he sat down next to his son.

“Do you want to go hang out with Sarid for a bit?”

Mato squeaked, and struggled to get a few words out, occasionally interrupted by squeaks.

“Crystal  _ squeak _ molting.  _ Squeak _ miss?”

Sly shook his head, smiling to try to reassure his son.

“You won’t miss her molting. It’s only been two days.”

Mato quickly purred before dashing into the other room. He glanced around, gaze falling on Sarid, who was tossing and turning in his sleep.

Mato laid down next to his son, and began to softly chirr. He was relieved when Sarid settled, his breathing easing as Mato continued chirring. He drifted off as he continued chirring.


	39. Instinct

_The next morning_

Mato sleepily got up from where he had fallen asleep, careful not to wake his son in the process. He softly chirred to his son as if to say _I’ll be back soon._ He walked into the other room to see how far along Crystal was in her molting. He felt an urge to hunt for his child as he noticed she was almost done molting. He ran out the door, heading towards the well.

Sly heard the door slam as his back was turned. He looked into the room where Mato was checking on Crystal’s molting. He quickly noticed someone was missing. He frowned as he ran out the door. He backpedaled as he realized that the kids had nobody to watch them. He walked up to Elderbug.

“Can you please watch Crystal and Sarid for me? I have to go chase down their dad. Did you see which way he went?”

Elderbug nodded.

“He ran to the well, and descended rather quickly. I wonder what all the fuss was about.”

Sly shook his head.

“I don’t know, unfortunately. He came back from the Wastelands, and hasn’t spoken much since he came back, he mostly purrs, and trills.”

Elderbug frowned.

“It seems the Wastelands cause bugs to revert to their more primal ways.”

Sly nodded before waving goodbye to Elderbug as he continued to the well. He grabbed ahold of the chain, and carefully descended.

He looked to his right, quickly spotting his son grabbing a dead tiktik in his mandibles. Mato looked at him, and dropped the tiktik. He began to hiss.

Sly froze as his son rushed towards him, hissing. He closed his eyes, and waited to feel mandibles slicing through him, but felt _nothing._

He opened his eyes, and looked behind him. He heard Mato hissing as he crushed an extremely infected vengefly between his mandibles. Mato got up, and picked up the tiktik in his mandibles, ready to leave with his dad. He heard a faint hissing noise. He noticed the vengefly’s corpse moving slightly, a hissing noise emanating from it as they got closer to it.

Mato dropped the tiktik, quickly grabbing his dad in his mandibles, squeaking as he did so. He quickly threw his dad away from the vengefly corpse. Sly took a step closer to his son. Mato hissed at him, tears falling from his face.

Sly continued walking closer to his son, and his son hissed louder. He watched as Mato grabbed the dead vengefly in his mandibles, and ran away from him.

Mato ran into a long hallway, the temple sitting in front of him. He threw the hissing vengefly. Everything went white as searing pain enveloped his body.

Sly ran in the direction Mato ran in as he heard an explosion. He looked around the hallway, his gaze falling upon a crumpled figure. He screamed as tears fell from his face.

“Mato! Can you hear me? Please wake up!”

Mato opened his eyes, squeaking as he realized his vision in his right eye was blurry. His ears rang, but he could hear his dad’s voice, quiet, but there. He turned his head, wincing as pain shot through his body. He felt something wet rolling down his face as he squeaked more. He knew what he wanted to say, but all that came out was squeaks. He managed to get one word out.

“Hurts.”

Mato’s ears stopped ringing, but the pain didn’t go away. The vision in his right eye didn’t return to normal either, much to his dismay. He hissed as the pain throughout his body intensified as Sly helped him to his feet. He heard his dad speak as he hissed.

“It’s okay, Mato. We’re heading home to patch you up.”

Mato remembered the tiktik that lay abandoned near the entrance to the well. He started squeaking, and trying to get to the tiktik. Sly looked at him, voice stern.

“Mato, we aren’t eating the tiktik. I’m sorry.”

Mato clashed his mandibles together, hissing, and clicking. Sly sighed.

“Mato, the answer’s no. That’s final.”

Mato went silent as he climbed the chain leading out of the Forgotten Crossroads. Sly climbed out of the well after Mato got out of the well. They headed back to Sly’s shop.

Sly quickly made Sarid, Mato, and himself some soup. After Sarid finished his soup, he ran into the other room to play. Sly waited patiently for Mato to finish his soup. He heard Mato hiss as he turned his head to see the sink out of his left eye. Sly’s voice was full of concern.

“Mato, are you alright? Is something wrong with your eye?”

Mato nodded, squeaking.

“Can’t see. Blurry.”

Sly walked over to his son, and hugged him.

“Which eye?”

Mato replied.

“Right one.”

Sly sighed before he spoke.

“Mato your mask is cracked through your right eyehole. Maybe a small shard got into your eye?”

Mato shrugged, squeaking. Sly spoke.

“Maybe we can get Iselda or Elderbug to try to get it out? You’ll have to take off your mask.”

Mato purred in response before heading into the room where Crystal was molting. He laid down next to her, trilling as she got the remainder of her old exoskeleton off. Crystal carefully stood up. Mato squeaked as she almost fell due to the lengthening of her horns. Mato carefully helped her stand until she could keep her balance. Mato watched as semi-transparent wings unfurled from her back, shimmering in the light of the house. He purred as he spoke.

“Crystal, look.”

Crystal looked at the wings unfurling from her back, slightly tickling her as they did so. Mato heard a thought in his head, the joy that came with it quickly being replaced with concern.

“Dad, I have wings! Dad, are you okay? Your mask is cracked.”

Mato purred, nodding. He heard another thought in his head.

“Are you okay? You don’t use as many words.”

Mato waved his hand in a so-so motion before he replied.

“Went to Wastelands. Came back. Instinct stronger now.”

Crystal nodded as a thought flowed through Mato’s head.

“I still love you, Dad. I like your trilling, especially. It’s soothing. You purr when you’re happy. You squeak when you’re scared.”

Mato purred as he replied.

“Love you too.”


	40. Exploring

_ The next morning _

Sly gently woke Mato, careful not to disturb Mato’s kids as they slept. Sly whispered to Mato.

“Mato, we’re going to Deepnest to get your mask fixed. You might want to leave a note, or tell your kids we’re going to be gone for a while.”

Mato nodded, and got a piece of paper. He quickly wrote on it that they were going to Deepnest. He left it on the table as he heard someone knock at the door. He opened the door, revealing a rather tired looking Elderbug. Elderbug yawned as he spoke.

“I’m here to grubsit your kids.”

Mato nodded, then looked at Sly.

“Guess we’re leaving now?”

Sly nodded, leading Mato outside. Elderbug walked inside the house, and looked at Crystal and Sarid. Elderbug quickly made them breakfast before they woke up. He gently woke the two, and handed them their breakfast. He heard a thought in his head, gratitude emanating from it.

“Thank you, Mr. Elderbug!”

He smiled at Crystal.

“Just Elderbug is fine, little ones.”

Crystal and Sarid nodded. Elderbug watched the two children play for a while before he nodded off. Crystal turned to Sarid, projecting a thought to him. Sarid heard the thought in his head.

“Do you want to go explore while he’s asleep? Kind of bored here.”

Sarid nodded, the duo quickly heading outside. They ran to the well, and quickly descended the chain. Crystal led Sarid into the temple where their sibling was trapped. Sarid heard a thought in his head, determination, and hope oozing from it.

“Can you try breaking the egg with your scream?”

Sarid hesitantly nodded as Crystal heard a thought in her head.

“Just one try.”

He walked over to the egg. He felt soul and void mixing together before he unleashed an explosion of the soul and void mixture, the explosion hitting the egg multiple times. The kids quickly noticed it didn’t even leave a dent in the egg’s surface. Crystal sighed, her shoulders slumping in a resigned fashion. Sarid felt a thought flow through his head as black tears started to leak from Crystal’s eyes.

“I just want to see my sibling. I just want to let them know they don’t have to go through this alone.”

Both children clutched their heads, falling to the ground as a scream filled their heads, unbridled rage suffocating them.

“Impure one, you shall not ignore me anymore! I will fix your flaws, even if I have to  _ break _ you to do so! That pale wyrm will rule  _ this _ kingdom no longer! I will be able to  _ dispose _ of those pesky voidlings!”

They quickly got up, and scampered out of the temple, tears rolling down both of their faces.

_ After a bit of running around later _

Crystal and Sarid hopped up the floating platforms, quickly walking into a small room. They turned around as they heard something clatter behind them. Sarid pulled his nail from his back, then turned to Crystal. She heard a thought flow into her head.

“Get behind me.”

Crystal ran behind Sarid as a towering, large suit of armor fell from the ceiling, causing the ground to shake slightly. Sarid struck in between the plating that made up the armor, quickly running back to his sister’s side as the armored bug swung a mace where Sarid stood moments prior.

After a while of Sarid striking the armor, then retreating as it struck, a maggot popped out of the armor. He quickly ran up, striking the maggot. Crystal followed closely behind him. He watched as the maggot retreated into the armor, and stood up. It jumped into the air, aiming to bring the mace down upon his sister’s head. He ran over, arms extended. She turned around, trying to pull him closer to her as he pushed her out of the way. He felt tears rolling down his cheeks as she screamed his name, the scream appearing as a thought in his head. He projected a thought to Crystal as tears flowed down her cheeks as she fell to the ground in front of him.

“I love you, sis.  _ Please _ don’t forget that.”

He felt the ground underneath him collapse as the combined weight of him, and the armor was too much for it. His vision faded to black as he hit the ground. The last thing he heard was a thought from Crystal.

“I love you, too.”

Crystal waited for the dust to clear before looking over the edge. She thought to herself,  _ He’s fine. He has to be fine! I can’t lose him. Please! I can’t lose my brother. He’s the only sibling I have left! _ She slowly fluttered down to the ground. Black blood slowly pooled around her brother, his mask cracked, and broken. She sat down next to him, grabbing his hand in hers. She projected a thought to him, hoping for an answer as tears flowed down her cheeks.

“Sarid, please wake up… Home won’t be the same without you!”

She waited for a response from her brother, tears continuing to fall from her face as none came.


	41. Revelations (That Really Shouldn't Be Revelations)

Crystal carefully picked up Sarid, and dragged him out of the room. She sighed, projecting a thought to her unconscious brother.

“I got you, Sarid. You’ll be okay, I promise.”

She quickly dragged him to the Stag Station, and laid him on the bench. She ran over, ringing the bell. She turned back to her brother, tears pricking at the corners of her eyes. She thought to herself as she waited,  _ Why did you do that? You shouldn’t have pushed me out of the way. _

She was snapped out of her thoughts upon hearing a familiar voice.

“Little one, I never expected to see you here! Why are you crying? Did something happen?”

Crystal nodded, a thought flowing through Stag’s mind.

“My brother, Sarid, needs help  _ really _ bad.”

Stag grimaced as he looked over to the bench. He noticed Sarid’s breaks, and cracks in his mask continuing to leak void. He turned back to Crystal.

“Little one, where do you want to go?”

Stag heard a thought in his head.

“Greenpath please, Mr. Stag.”

Stag nodded, lowering himself to the ground to make it easier for Crystal to get Sarid into the seats on his back. Crystal hovered into the seats on Stag’s back, right next to her brother. Stag craned his head as he spoke.

“Are you ready, little one? I would advise holding your brother.”

Crystal nodded, cradling Sarid to her chest. She hugged her brother to her chest as Stag took them to Greenpath’s station. She felt Stag come to an abrupt stop as they pulled into the station. Stag lowered himself to the ground to help Crystal get Sarid out of the seat without injuring themselves.

After Crystal got Sarid out of the seat, she quickly gave Stag an one-armed hug around the neck before carrying Sarid out of the room.

Stag sighed as he watched Crystal carry Sarid out of the room.

“Please be more careful, little ones.”

Crystal carried Sarid into a tunnel with a lot of undergrowth. She silently screamed, hoping Hornet was around. Black tears rolled down her face as she felt void from her brother’s mask dripping onto her hand.

“Hornet, I need your help! Please! My brother’s hurt really bad, and I don’t know what to do!”

As she was about to sit down, she heard the greenery near her shift. She turned, gaze falling upon Hornet’s face. She noticed Hornet tense up.

“Crystal, what are you doing here? Where’s your dad? I swear, if he isn’t taking care of you-”

Hornet went quiet upon realizing Crystal was carrying one of her siblings. Hornet outstretched her arms, allowing Crystal to give Sarid to her. She quickly led Crystal into her hiding place as she carried Sarid, quickly setting him down on an old table. She quickly spun a long silk patch, wrapping it around his mask and horns, making sure to leave his eyes uncovered. She turned to Crystal.

“Crystal, I think you should wait outside while I check over his body for injuries. I think if he were awake, he’d want privacy as I check his body for injuries.”

Crystal nodded, quickly heading outside. Hornet turned back to Sarid, carefully removing his shirt. She checked over his body, letting out a sigh of relief as she only found minor scrapes that would quickly heal by themselves. She put his shirt back on him, and called Crystal back in.

Crystal ran to her brother’s side, and held his hand.

“I’m right here, Sarid. Please wake up.”

_ A couple hours later _

Crystal awoke as she heard a thought in her head.

“Crystal, where are we?”

She looked at Sarid, and after a moment, he heard a thought in his head.

“We’re in Greenpath. I brought you to Hornet, our sister.”

Sarid nodded, hugging Crystal. Sarid heard a thought flow through his head.

“Why did you push me out of the way?”

They both turned to look at Crystal. Sarid hugged Crystal again as a thought flowed through her head.

“Because I care about you! You’re my sister! I love you!”

Crystal started to cry, black tears falling from her face.

“Why do you love me? You got hurt because of me!”

Hornet stood off to the side, thinking to herself,  _ I don’t know what to do. How do I comfort the children?! I should know this! _ She walked outside, needle in hand. Crystal and Sarid watched as she walked out of the room, sharing concerned glances with each other. They followed her outside.

Hornet gripped her needle tightly, shame boiling over. She flung her needle, a slight  _ twang _ resonating through the air as it embedded itself into the wall. She harshly pulled out her needle, quickly freeing it from its green prison. She felt two small bugs hug her, causing her to look to her side in alarm. She relaxed upon realizing it was just her two siblings. She heard a thought in her head, concern dripping from it as it flowed through her mind like a river.

“It’s okay, sis. You don’t need to know what to do  _ all the time.” _

Hornet fell to the ground, tears falling from her face as the full force of those words hit her. Her body shook slightly as she  _ sobbed. _ She felt both of her siblings rubbing circles into her back, free of judgement as they patiently waited for her to feel better. She felt her sibling on her left disappear as she heard footsteps leaving the area before quickly coming back. She noticed her sibling trying to give her a tissue. She quickly took it, sitting up to look both of her siblings in the eyes. She wiped her eyes, then spoke, voice uncharacteristically quiet.

“Thank you. That goes for both of you, too. You don’t have to be perfect anymore. You don’t have to know what to do  _ all the time.” _


	42. Grounded For Your Own Safety

_ A couple hours later _

Crystal and Sarid hugged Hornet, a silent goodbye to their sister until the next time they met. Hornet didn’t need them to talk at the moment, knowing exactly what the hug meant. She quickly ushered them back to the stag station. She helped them onto the seats on Stag’s back, then turned to Stag.

“Please take my siblings back to Dirtmouth.”

Stag nodded at Hornet, quickly running to the station in Dirtmouth.

_ Half an hour later _

Stag pulled into the station, and immediately lowered himself to the ground to make it easier for Crystal and Sarid to get out of the seats. Crystal hopped out of the seat, gliding to the ground using her wings. Sarid quickly hopped out of the seat, joining his sister. Crystal and Sarid waved goodbye to Stag as they rode the elevator. They  _ hoped _ Elderbug was still asleep. They headed outside, the familiar surroundings of Dirtmouth comforting them slightly.

They quickly ran over to Sly’s house, and quietly opened the door. They shrunk back as Elderbug revealed himself to be waiting at the door, catching them in their attempt to sneak back in. Elderbug frowned at the two, quickly becoming concerned upon noticing the silk wrapped around Sarid’s mask.

“Where were you two? Sarid, what happened to you? This is why you two  _ need _ to ask someone to go with you when you two go exploring!”

Elderbug heard a thought in his head as Crystal started to silently bawl her eyes out, black tears quickly forming a puddle around her. Sarid noticed his sister’s distress, and tried to calm her down by hugging her. When that didn’t work, he started to cry as well, causing Crystal to cry harder as she became more distressed as her brother became more distressed as she continued to cry harder.

“I almost got my brother killed! He saved me and he got hurt really bad!”

Elderbug hugged Crystal and Sarid after he wiped the tears from their eyes.

“Little ones, it’s okay. I’m sorry for yelling at you two. You two nearly gave me a heart attack when I woke up and you two were nowhere to be seen. I thought someone might have taken you two. I thought I would never see you two again. Would you two like me to help explain to your dad what happened?”

Crystal and Sarid nodded sheepishly, already knowing that they would likely be grounded for at least the next two days, as well as being watched more closely for a while. Elderbug walked into the kitchen, and made them grilled cheeses for lunch. He handed both children a grilled cheese. Crystal and Sarid quickly shoved their grilled cheeses into their bodies.

_ A few hours later _

Elderbug turned to Sarid and Crystal, who were sleeping in the chair. He quietly and slowly got up as he heard someone gently knocking on the door. He opened the door, revealing Mato and Sly. He quickly noticed Mato’s mask was fixed, the pale white mask showing no signs of wear yet. Mato quickly noticed the silk wrapped around Sarid’s mask and horns. He glared at Elderbug, then hissed at him. Sly looked at his son.

“Mato, can you  _ please _ use your words? It might be easier for everyone  _ else _ to understand.”

Mato nodded, continuing to glare at Elderbug.

“Did you fall asleep while watching  _ my _ kids?”

Elderbug nodded, looking away from Mato as he sweat bullets. Mato ignored him in favor of heading over to his children. He gently picked up his children, careful not to disturb their slumber. He quietly sat down in the chair, and sat Crystal in his right arm, and Sarid in his left arm. Crystal and Sarid slept peacefully in Mato’s arms.

_ Two hours later _

Sarid awoke to someone’s arm cradling him. He looked to his side, Mato’s mask barely visible out of the corner of his eye. He also saw his sister looking at him.

Crystal heard a thought in her head as Sarid silently spoke.

“Do you think Dad’s asleep?”

Sarid and Crystal heard their dad respond.

“I’m not asleep. Elderbug filled me in on you two trying to sneak back in after running off. You two are grounded from leaving the house for the next four days.”

Sarid crossed his arms and pouted. Crystal quickly did the same. Mato continued.

“Sarid, do you want to tell me what happened to you two? Who hurt you?”

He heard a thought in his head as Sarid silently responded.

“We fought a big bug! It had armor and a big nail that ended in a ball.”

Mato nodded, helping his kids off the chair. He turned to Sarid and Crystal. He spoke quite stern, hoping for his children to do what he told them.

“You two stay here. I’m going to go have a  _ talk _ with the bug that hurt you.”

Sarid and Crystal watched as Mato walked over to the door. Sly heard Mato quietly clicking and hissing as he walked out the door. Sly and Elderbug turned to the children, who had already crawled back into the chair. Sly chuckled as Sarid climbed partially over his sister’s side, then laid down. He spoke.

“Sarid, please don’t use your sister as a pillow.”

The group of bugs heard a thought in their heads as Crystal looked at Sly.

“He’s fine. Uncle Sly, can you please get us a blanket?”

She then laid her head back down on the chair as Sly grabbed a blanket, covering the children with it.


	43. He's Home, Safe and Sound

Crystal looked around in alarm. The dark stones beneath her feet combined with the black wisps in the air didn’t lie. She jumped back, shaking slightly as some of the wisps started to gain a form as they floated towards her. She reached for her nail to find _nothing_ on her back. She looked at the form in front of her, the inky black, wispy, and legless figure floating harmlessly as they looked at each other. She felt tears cascade down her face in groups as she noticed the shape of the horns on the figure. The forked points at the ends of her sibling’s horns were enough to verify who the sibling was. She remembered the silent pleas for help the sibling directed at _her_ when she saw them in the White Palace. She reached out, wanting nothing more than to comfort her sibling and apologize. Everything went dark before she could reach them.

She opened her eyes, swatting away a cold hand that had been frantically patting her. She jumped up to her brother’s side as she heard him exclaim in pain in her head. She heard Sly run into the room before coming to a quick stop.

“Crystal, it’s okay!”

She apologized profusely to her brother as she hugged him. Sarid hugged her back as she heard a thought in her head, concern stuck to the thought like glue.

“Are you okay? You were crying in your sleep.”

Crystal reached her hand to her face, quickly wiping a tear from her face. She wondered to herself, _How did I not notice I was crying? I was asleep, but I should have felt the tears on my face when I woke up. I-_ She was snapped out of her thoughts as Sarid patted her shoulder. She turned to him as a thought flowed through her head.

“Do you need me to repeat my question? You kind of spaced out.”

Crystal nodded, this time making sure to listen to her brother as he spoke.

“Do you want to talk about your dream?”

Crystal hesitantly nodded. Sarid noticed her anxiety, giving a gentle hug.

“It’s okay, sis. You don’t have to talk about it if you’re uncomfortable talking about it.”

Crystal shook her head, a thought flowing through Sarid’s head.

“I think I _should_ talk about it.”

Sarid nodded as Sly walked over to the duo.

“Crystal, is it alright if I listen? If not, tell me, and I’ll leave the room.”

Crystal turned to him, and a thought flowed through his head, virtually indistinguishable from his own.

“It’s okay, Uncle Sly. You can listen.”

Sly nodded, sitting down on the floor as Crystal started to share her dream.

“I dreamt I was back in the Abyss, at the bottom to be exact. A black ghost with glowing, white eyes appeared from the black wisps in the Abyss. Our sibling that the ghost was from came from the White Palace. They were one of our siblings that got thrown away when I escaped. I wanted to save them from our father, _but_ if I helped them, then father would realize that I had escaped, and probably _kill_ me. They’re probably dead because of _me!_ I should have saved them! I went to hug them, to apologize to them, but then I woke up. If they blame me, they have every right to blame me. I was selfish.”

She started to silently cry, black tears barely staining her white mask as they rolled down her face. Sly opened his arms, a silent question with no right answer passing between the two. Crystal ran over to him, and wrapped him in a hug. Sly gently hugged her, shaking his head.

“You weren’t being selfish. You were scared, and you were being smart about what you did. Someday, we’ll go back there, and save your siblings. How about that?”

Crystal nodded after letting Sly wipe the tears from her eyes.

“That sounds nice.”

Sly carefully, and gently carried Crystal as he heard a knock at the door. He opened the door, a smile forming on his face as he chuckled.

“Mato, my son, you don’t need to knock every time you come back to my house.”

He handed Crystal to Mato. She quickly latched onto his collar as she hugged her dad. A thought flowed through Mato’s head as Sarid ran over, and hugged him.

“We missed you, Dad!”

Mato nuzzled his children.

“I missed you two, too.”

Sly cleared his throat causing Mato to look at him. Mato started to chuckle.

“I missed you too, Dad. No need to get jealous.”

Sly hid his face in his hands as he sputtered.

“I’m not jealous!”

Sly walked into the kitchen and quickly fixed the four of them dinner. He rushed into the living room and set the plates of food on the counter next to where he stood when his shop was open. He called Mato and his grandchildren over to eat.


	44. Lessons

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Tw: There's some throwing up in this chapter

Crystal jumped out of the chair, and quickly sprinted over to her brother upon remembering the scream that he could unleash when experiencing strong emotions, or at will. Sarid turned to her as she bounced up and down, her excitement quickly rubbing off on her brother. She quickly projected a thought to him as she silently spoke, her excitement quickly latching onto the thought. Sarid heard the thought in his head almost immediately.

“Can you teach me to scream like you?”

Sarid thought for a moment before nodding. Crystal heard a thought in her head as Sarid silently spoke.

“Do you want to learn right now?”

Crystal nodded. Sarid silently continued.

“Okay, so first, focus any soul you have, and let void mix with it. After it mixes, unleash the scream!”

Crystal started to focus the soul she had, quickly feeling the void inside her mixing with the soul she focused. Once it mixed, she unleashed the attack. A black shadow with white eyes flew out in front of her, barely missing her brother.

She ran over to her brother, tears in her eyes as she apologized profusely. Sarid gently patted her on the back as he offered silent reassurances that he was okay in her head. Crystal walked back over to where she stood before she unleashed the attack. She looked at her brother who hadn’t moved before gesturing for him to get behind her. Sarid ran behind her, and watched as she started focusing soul again.

She unleashed another shadow that quickly shot out in front of her before quickly phasing through the wall.

_ Meanwhile, in the kitchen _

Mato looked at his dad before chuckling as they both heard something loudly fizz in the other room.

“Guess we should go check on the children?”

Sly nodded, thinking to himself as they walked into the other room.  _ What are the children up to? I hope they’re not hurting themselves. _ He glanced towards the children, Crystal appearing to be focusing very hard on something. He was about to ask her if she needed help, but was cut short by a black shadow erupting from Crystal, a loud fizz reverberating through the room as it quickly shot forward. He watched as it phased through the walls of the house. He thought to himself,  _ That could really hurt an unsuspecting bug around here. I think they should practice in the Howling Cliffs because it has more space, and less bugs. _ He turned to Mato.

“Mato, I think we should take the kids to the Howling Cliffs. There’s less bugs there, and with the fact that Crystal’s variant of a scream can pass through walls, it’s pretty easy to see how someone could get hurt, is it not?”

Mato nodded, and walked over to Crystal and Sarid. He got down to their eye level, not wanting to accidently intimidate his kids.

“We’re going to head to the area around my house to let you two have more room to practice your screams.”

Crystal and Sarid nodded, quickly climbing onto Mato’s back. Sly walked out of the house, quickly locking his shop behind him once Mato was also outside. They walked over to the cliffside, quickly climbing to the top.

Sarid and Crystal got off of Mato’s back, quickly returning to focusing soul to unleash their attacks. Crystal quickly unleashed another shadow. The group heard a startled hiss followed by the sound of a bug’s shell and innards sizzling. Mato walked over to the source of the sound, leaving Sly to grubsit the kids for a moment. He looked around before the smell of a burning bug shell hit him. He looked at the bug, barely identifiable as a vengefly. The wings were scorched black, the thin membrane of the wings melted to the bug.

He took a step back as he doubled over. He heaved as sour, pickle green bile spilled from his mouth. He felt someone rubbing his back. He could barely hear them over the sound of the bile pouring out of his mouth as he continued throwing up. He heaved a couple more times, nothing coming out of his mouth. He heard a thought in his head, concern almost immediately following it.

“Dad, are you okay?”

He shakily nodded as he continued dry heaving.

After he quit dry heaving, he looked to his side. His dad’s concern for him was evident on his face as his dad spoke.

“I think you should go home and get cleaned up.”

Mato nodded, quickly leading his children and his teacher to his house. He quickly rinsed his mouth with water, trying to get the sour taste out of his mouth. He quickly took off his armor plates, and rinsed the bile off of them. He washed his hands, and quickly dried them. He looked over to see Sly reading a book to his children, who were huddled in a chair, calmly breathing. He smiled as he grabbed a nearby blanket, and covered his children with it. He tucked in the edges.

He noticed Sly starting to doze off, and gently picked him up. He carried him to his bed, and tucked him in. He quietly moved the chairs at the table, forming a makeshift bed frame. He grabbed a couple pillows, and laid them down on the chairs. He grabbed an unoccupied blanket from nearby. He quietly got into the makeshift bed, and spread the blanket over himself. He closed his eyes, waiting to fall asleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I imagine burning bug shell probably smells pretty bad.


	45. Snow in the Cliffs

Mato climbed out of bed, an unnatural and unfamiliar chill seeping into his bones. He walked to the front door, and opened it, expecting to see the familiar gray stones of the Howling Cliffs. He reeled back in shock upon seeing snow on the ground, the lights from the lamps reflecting off of the many layers of the white substance. He quickly walked over to his bed, his teacher quickly waking upon hearing his heavy footsteps. He looked at Mato as a yawn escaped his mouth. Mato smiled.

“You’ll never believe what’s outside!”

He smiled as he thought back to the last time he remembered Mato becoming this excited was when Mato was a grub, training under him with his brothers. Sly chuckled before gesturing for Mato to continue. Mato quickly continued.

“There’s snow on the ground! We’ll have to figure out something to keep the kids from going crazy though. Or driving us crazy, whichever happens first.”

Sly nodded.

“Maybe we should let them play in the snow a bit?”

Mato nodded before turning around, and heading into the other room, Sly following him closely. He walked over to his kids, who had become a tangled mess along with the blanket. He chuckled as he gently woke his children.

Crystal and Sarid looked at him drowsily, sleepiness hanging to the edges of their minds. Mato chuckled as they burrowed back under the blanket, a silent  _ five more minutes, Dad  _ ringing out in his head. He gently uncovered their heads, his voice soft as he spoke.

“I think you two will want to see what’s outside.”

He watched as Crystal and Sarid burrowed their heads further underneath the blanket. He heard a thought flow through his head.

“It’s cold outside the blanket. Under the blanket, we’re warm and comfy. We’ll stay here, Dad.”

Mato carefully picked up his kids, cocooned them in the blanket, and carried them to the door. Sly opened the door, allowing Mato to see the snow on the ground once more. Mato spoke into a hole at the top of the blanket to his kids.

“If you two look at the snow, I’ll put you two back in the chair. You two can even sleep in if you want.”

Crystal was the first to poke her head out of the hole in the blanket cocoon. Mato heard a thought in his head as Crystal silently spoke.

“Sarid, you  _ have _ to look at this! It’s so pretty!”

Sarid popped his head out of the blanket, quickly looking at the snow. He then looked at his dad, a thought flowing through Mato’s head.

“I don’t like it. It reminds me of Pale Dad too much.”

Mato nodded in understanding, walking over, and setting his kids back down in the chair. Mato got on his knees, so he’d be on eye level with his kids.

“Sarid, do you  _ want _ a hug? It’s okay if you don’t.”

Sarid noddled, quickly nestling himself into the fluff of Mato’s collar. Mato gently hugged Sarid, rubbing circles into his back. Mato felt cold tears fall onto his shirt, dampening it. He heard a thought in his head, laced with sadness.

“I’m tired of feeling like this, Dad. I don’t want to feel like this anymore. I never wanted to feel like this.”

Mato spoke, voice soft, and caring.

“You didn’t ask for any of what happened to you. Neither of you did. Would you two be willing to go to therapy? I think it might help you two more than I could alone.”

Sarid tilted his head as a thought flowed through Mato’s head like a stream.

“What’s therapy?”

Mato thought for a moment before answering.

“Therapy is where you talk to someone who can help you cope with trauma that you’ve been through, and they help you learn better ways to deal with your feelings, especially those connected to the trauma.”

Sarid nodded as a thought flowed through Mato’s head.

“I’d be willing to go if Crystal’s willing to go, too.”

Crystal looked at Sarid, then her dad, and nodded.

“I’m willing to try it. Dad, can you  _ please _ come to therapy with us?”

Mato nodded as Crystal grabbed onto Mato’s collar, and nestled into the side opposite from Sarid. Mato supported his kids with one arm as he walked over to the kitchen, opened a cabinet, and got two mugs. He sat the cups on the counter, and grabbed two small packages from nearby. He tore the top of each package, then poured the contents of each into each mug. He heard a chain of thoughts in his head as his children curiously watched him boil water on the stove.

“Dad, what did you put in the cup? Why are you boiling water? Can we have some?”

Mato nodded. He replied as he took the boiling water off of the stove, and poured it into the mugs.

“I poured hot chocolate mix into the cups. It tastes really good after you mix hot water in it, but it’s easier to boil the water, then pour it in the cups. It’s for you two to drink, it should help with the chill in here.”

He stirred the hot chocolate until the mix had dissolved almost completely into the water. He picked up the mug by the handle, making sure his kids were watching, then sat it back down. He thought to himself,  _ I want to make sure they don’t try to pick it up by the sides because it’s still really hot. _ He carefully sat his children down in front of the fireplace.

“Don’t get  _ too _ close to the fire, alright? I’ll be right back with the hot chocolate.”

Crystal and Sarid nodded, watching their dad head into the kitchen before quickly coming back with their mugs of hot chocolate. They looked into the mugs to see there were tiny white marshmallows in the drinks. Mato spoke, but a bit too late. Sarid poured his drink into his eye while Crystal stuck her hand in the drink.

“Wait for it to-”

Sarid stopped pouring the drink into his eye while Crystal swiftly pulled her hand out of the drink. Mato ran over, mentally kicking himself for giving  _ his _ children hot chocolate that was still  _ way _ too hot, especially for someone that didn’t know any better. He heard his children silently speak as their voices appeared as thoughts flowing through his head.

“Dad, it’s hot!  _ Too _ hot!”

“Ow! How much longer until I can drink it? I want to try the white things.”

Mato sat down next to his kids.

“It’ll cool down in a bit.”

Sly walked over.

“I could teach them to dance.”

Mato nodded after he turned to Sly.

“I think they would enjoy dancing.”

Mato quickly picked up the mugs of hot chocolate, and helped his kids up.

“I’m going to put your drinks back on the counter, so we don’t spill them on the floor while we’re dancing.”

Crystal and Sarid nodded before quickly walking over to Sly. Sly’s antennae flicked to the side upon hearing the mugs being placed on the counter. Mato walked back into the room as Sly started to speak.

“Dancing, there’s really nothing to it, with improv dancing, anyway. Just dance to a song that only you can hear.”

Crystal stepped away from Sly and Sarid. She started to dance, gracelessly coming up with her own dance. She looked to Mato, feeling slightly distressed about her lack of skill in dancing. He smiled as he gave her a thumbs up, quickly reinvigorating her confidence. He watched as Sarid stepped near his sister before joining in with his own dance.

Sly turned to Mato, a slight smile forming on his face. Mato glanced over at his dad, wondering what he was smiling about. His question was quickly answered.

“Mato, do you want to dance with your kids? I think you might enjoy it.”

Mato sputtered, a slight blush dusting his cheeks.

“I haven’t danced in forever! I don’t even remember most of the dances you taught my brothers and me!”

Sly smiled, putting a hand on his son’s shoulder.

“Mato, it’s fine. Do you remember what I said earlier? We’re  _ improv _ dancing.”

Mato nodded, smiling. He walked over to an area semi-close to his kids, and started dancing. He looked to his dad for reassurance that he was doing it right. Sly smiled, and gave him a thumbs up. Mato sat down after dancing for much longer than he would before, smiling. He closed his eyes, and focused on the pure joy radiating from his kids.

_ Half an hour later _

Mato’s eyes shot open. He stifled a yawn. He blinked a couple times before looking around. His gaze fell upon Crystal and Sarid, curled up against one another, fast asleep. He walked into the kitchen, quickly being greeted by the sight of the counter devoid of any mugs of hot chocolate. He looked in the sink. He pondered aloud as to the location of the mugs. He heard his dad from the other room.

“They’re in the cabinet, Mato. Crystal and Sarid helped wash them.”

Mato headed into the room where his dad was, and gave him a hug.

“Thank you, Dad. For everything, I mean.”

Sly hugged him back, smiling.

“No problem, Son. That’s what being a dad is about. Helping your kids, and grandkids.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's a happy chapter!


	46. Darkness and Light, I'm Trapped in a Cycle

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I got a new keyboard (it's mechanical), I like the clicky keys.

_Meanwhile, in the Abyss_

Elisha opened his eyes, the darkness of the room making it hard to see anything in front of him. He carefully got up after a few moments. Something white in the darkness caught his attention as he looked around. The horns and side horns looked _just_ like Crystal’s horns. He felt his stomach turn as he noticed the black blood oozing from the white mask. Tears fell from his face as he thought, _I don’t want to be alone here!_

He walked over to his sibling, and gently shook them. He stopped shaking them to wait for a response. Black tears fell from his face like rain as he thought to himself, _It’s not fair! She didn’t do anything wrong! She didn’t deserve to die like this._

He wiped the tears from his mask. He looked up, a platform above him barely visible in the darkness. He jumped to it, quickly pulling himself over the edge.

_After jumping up a few more platforms_

Elisha noticed a cranny in the wall of the Abyss, surrounded by white spines, some of his siblings impaled on them. He jumped, hoping to make it to the cranny. He felt one of the spines pierce his leg, ripping the skin as he fell into the opening of the cranny.

He got up, trying to ignore the sharp, throbbing pain in his leg. He got up, and started walking through the tunnel.

After a while, he crawled out of the tunnel into a large room. He noticed black bugs with orange eyes. He waited a moment to see if the one closest to him would attack him. Relief flooded his body when it just continued crawling in its predetermined path, ignoring him completely. He noticed one on the wall that was starting to crawl upwards.

He walked over to it, and grabbed onto its spines. He suppressed a yelp as the spines dug into his hands as he tightly gripped the spines to keep from falling off. He quickly jumped over the bug as it reached the top of its crawling path.

_After awhile of climbing using the shadow creepers_

Elisha jumped over the last bug, a bright light coming from a hole in the ceiling. He hopped up before quickly pulling himself over the ledge. He spotted some kind of big, long vehicle waiting in some kind of station. He ran over to it, quickly heading inside of it.

He noticed a button with a pale white glow around it to his right. He pressed the button as he thought to himself. _I just want to get away from here. I wonder if any of my siblings are alive, somewhere out there? That’s impossible. It’s impossible that anyone else got out. I don’t even know where my nail is anymore!_

He fell to the ground, a sickening crack reverberating throughout the tram as his mask collided with the floor. He stood up, noticing the tram had stopped completely. He quickly headed outside, wincing as he touched the side of his mask, pain blooming in the side of his head as he grazed the wound with his claws.

He walked to his left, noticing a few bugs that hadn’t noticed him yet. He jumped up the platforms, a few bees starting to buzz furiously as they followed him. He ran from them, not noticing that they had stopped following him once they realized he didn’t have any interest in trying to break into their hive.

He continued running as he followed a natural path. He fled from small, hopping bugs, as well as a few masked bugs that shot something orange at him. He noticed a rock wall in front of him, so he started to climb it, ignoring the protests from his wounded hands.

He noticed another masked bug that shot orange venom at him too late, the only indicator of the bug’s existence was a strange feeling on his back that quickly turned into an excruciating burning that spread slightly through his back as time passed.

He collapsed to the ground, a new burning feeling appearing on his mask, causing him to silently scream in pain as black tears rolled down his cheeks. His vision was replaced with black as the pain became too much, causing him to pass out.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Why do I hurt my ocs so much?


	47. Snow Dad

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Oro finds Elisha and takes him back to his hut. Oro ends up adopting him.

_ A few hours later _

Oro hastily got out of his bed. He headed over to his fridge, quickly throwing the door open. He scanned its interior for the great hopper meat he ate for breakfast, noticing he was out. He grabbed a couple pieces of bread and meat before scarfing them down. He ran out the door, nail in hand.

_ After a bit of running around _

Oro spotted a great hopper nearby, hopping along without any care. He stepped out into the open before rushing the hopper, severing a couple of its legs from its body. It fell to the ground with a loud  _ thump. _ He ran over to it while it was down and quickly brought his nail down upon its head. Orange blood splattered onto his armor, and face. He quickly wiped the blood from his face with his arm. He looked upward as he heard a nearby primal aspid aggressively shooting venom at something nearby.

He climbed up a nearby rock wall, noticing a small child laying on the ground. He noted the black blood flowing from breaks to a mask the child was wearing, along with various wounds to the child’s body. He could see where the aspid had burned the child’s back with its venom, black blood flowing from the injuries.

He jumped up into the air, disposing of the aspid with ease. He looked back at the child.

“Okay, the aspid’s gone. You can get up now.”

The child didn’t move, causing Oro to sigh. Oro scooped the youngster into his arms, ignoring the black blood flowing onto his arms.

_ After a long walk back to Oro’s hut _

Oro set Elisha down onto his bed, quickly grabbing some gauze he’d made out of great hopper wings and crushed up aspid masks. As he cleaned and dressed Elisha’s wounds, he angrily muttered to himself.

“Someone sure did a  _ great  _ job watching their kid. If I find out who’s kid this is, they’ll pay me. I’ll make sure of it. I’ll also make them take him back. I’m not a grubsitter,  _ especially _ a free one.”

He looked back at Elisha, frowning as he turned to leave his house.

“Don’t go anywhere if you wake up. I won’t go looking for you.”

He walked outside, quickly heading back to where he had killed the great hopper. He cut the meat from its exoskeleton before severing the wings from its body. He ran back to his house, letting out a sigh of relief when he saw Elisha hadn’t woken up and ran off.

He cooked the meat on the stove, then sat down at the table. He ate his lunch before glancing over to Elisha. He thought to himself,  _ I hope he’s okay. He’s been out for a while. _ He carried a plate with Elisha’s lunch on it, setting it down on the table next to the bed.

He brought a chair over to the bedside before sitting next to the bed.

_ After a few hours _

Elisha sat up and looked around, noticing Oro slumped over in the chair next to him. He thought to himself,  _ Will he hurt me? I hope not. I’m not sticking around to find out. _ Elisha jumped out of bed, wincing as his leg touched the ground. He noted that his back no longer burned. He turned around as he heard someone speak from behind him. Oro was looking directly at him.

“Are you  _ seriously _ heading back out? I won’t save you this time, kid.”

Elisha tilted his head as a thought flowed through Oro’s head.

“You saved me?”

Oro nodded.

“Yup. Let me guess, that was you in my head just now?”

Elisha nodded very quickly. Oro let out a sigh.

“Kid, where’s your parents? You should go back to them, y’know. They’re probably worried about you.”

Elisha shook his head.

“Pale Mom didn’t help. Pale Dad threw away. Me. Deserved it. Imperfect.”

Oro frowned.

“Do you have anyone you can stay with?”

Elisha briefly nodded, but then started shaking his head.

Oro sighed.

“Who? Tell me  _ now.” _

Oro heard a thought in his head as Elisha silently spoke.

“My siblings. Dead. In Abyss. At the bottom.”

Oro frowned.

“Do you have anyone  _ else _ you can stay with?”

Elisha shook his head before a thought flowed through Oro’s head.

“Please. Can stay here?”

Oro sighed and nodded.

“Fine. You can stay.”

Elisha jumped up and down, excitement overwhelming him.  _ I have a home! I have an actual home! I have a nice dad! _ Black tears started rolling down Elisha’s cheeks as he came to a sudden stop, confusing Oro.

“Why are you crying? You have a place to live now.”

Elisha wiped the tears from his eyes as a thought entered Oro’s mind.

“New family. New dad. Better dad.”

Oro let out a sigh as Elisha called him dad.

“Why are you calling me dad? We just met not too long ago.”

Elisha silently answered.

“Pale Dad worse. You’re better. Much better.”

Oro nodded in understanding.  _ This kid’s been through a lot. I might have to take him to therapy once he’s ready. I never asked him what his name was. I can’t keep calling him ‘Kid’. _ Oro smiled slightly.

“I don’t believe we know each other’s names.”

Elisha nodded, a thought appearing in Oro’s head afterwards.

“Elisha. Your name?”

Oro smiled a bit more.

“Oro. It’s nice to finally know your name, kid.”

Oro frowned, a serious look on his face.

“Elisha, what brought you here? What brought you to Kingdom’s Edge?”

Elisha thought for a moment before thoughts flowed through Oro’s head.

“Escaped Abyss. Didn’t die. Wanted away.”

Oro frowned.

“Your parents wanted you to die?”

Elisha nodded, tears forming in his eyes.

“Father wanted. Not sure about Mom.”

Oro hugged Elisha to his chest, rubbing circles into his back. He felt Elisha crying into his chest, black tears rolling down  _ his _ kid’s face.

“You’re okay, Elisha. You’re okay.”

Oro carried him over to the bed, then carefully sat him down on it. He sat down next to him, and covered both of them with the blanket.

“Goodnight, Elisha. Sweet dreams.”

Elisha nodded, quickly drifting off as a thought passed through Oro’s mind.

“Goodnight, Dad. Love you.”


	48. Professional Help

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Mato takes Crystal and Sarid to therapy. There's a small setback in their recovery, but recovery isn't linear, so something like this was bound to happen at some point. Sly lets Mato and his grandkids sleep at his shop. Sly had a slow day at work.

_ The next morning _

Sly gently woke Mato, his antennae flicking in response to a vengefly hissing outside.

“Mato, I’m going to head back to my shop. I just thought I’d tell you so you don’t freak out.”

Mato rubbed the sleep from his eyes before getting out of bed.

“I’m coming with you. Give me a moment to go get Crystal and Sarid up.”

Sly nodded, watching Mato walk over to Sarid’s bed. He heard him speak as he gently woke Sarid.

“Sarid, it’s time to get up. We’re going to visit Dirtmouth for a bit.”

Sly watched in awe as Sarid absorbed the blanket into his voidy body, then got out of bed. Mato was shocked and bemused.

“Sarid, did you just  _ eat _ your blanket?”

Mato let out a sigh of relief as Sarid reached into his body, the void rippling around his hand, and pulled a corner of the blanket out. He heard a thought in his head.

“The blanket’s okay.”

Mato nodded before walking over to Crystal’s bed. He gently woke Crystal, and watched as she absorbed her blanket into her body. She hopped off of her bed, Sarid doing the same afterwards. Mato led his children over to Sly, smiling.

“We’re ready.”

Sly got out of the chair, and walked outside, followed by his son and grandkids. The group walked to the cliffside over Dirtmouth.

Sly looked at Mato.

“Are you, Crystal, and Sarid ready?”

Mato heard a thought in his head before he could reply.

“Can I go see Elderbug? I’ll wait on the bench for you.”

He looked over the edge of the cliff to see Crystal standing in the middle of the pathway leading to Dirtmouth. He did a double-take, even glancing to the side of him to confirm that Crystal did what he thought she did. He looked back to Crystal and yelled, proud, but hoping she  _ didn’t _ hurt herself.

“Did you just  _ glide _ down? When did you learn to do that?”

He heard a thought in his head as he picked up Sarid, and jumped down to the entrance to King’s Pass.

“I learned to glide when we snuck out.”

Mato frowned, replying as he landed in the middle of the pathway leading to Dirtmouth. He looked to Crystal, then Sarid when he was halfway done speaking.

“Please warn me next time when you’re going to glide down here. Another thing, please stop sneaking out to go exploring on your own.”

Crystal and Sarid both nodded, hugging Mato. Mato turned to Crystal.

“You can go see Elderbug, but  _ please _ wait for us on the bench.”

Crystal nodded, running ahead of the group to talk to Elderbug. Sly walked over to his shop, and unlocked it. Mato turned to Sly, smiling.

“I’m going to go make sure Crystal isn’t getting into trouble. I’ll talk to you later, Dad.”

Sly nodded understandingly, smiling.

“Bye, Mato. Bye, Sarid.”

Sarid nodded, a thought flowing through Sly’s head as Mato carried Sarid over to the bench.

“Bye, Uncle Sly!”

Mato walked up to Elderbug. Crystal sat on the bench beside him. Elderbug turned to him, grinning.

“It’s nice to see you and your kids again, Mato!”

Mato smiled, noticing a new building nearby.

“It’s nice to see you too, Elderbug! Do you know what that building is for?”

Elderbug nodded before replying.

“It’s a new clinic. A bug came up from the well, and settled into Dirtmouth. I believe she said that she was some kind of therapist.”

Mato nodded, setting Sarid on the bench next to his sister.

“I think I might take Crystal and Sarid there. I can only help them so much with what they’ve been through. I asked them if they would be willing to try therapy, and they agreed to it. If they don’t like it, they don’t have to go.”

Elderbug nodded before turning to Crystal and Sarid.

“I hope you two have a great time in your first therapy appointment!”

Sarid and Crystal nodded, getting up as they realized they would be going to the therapy clinic with their dad soon.

Mato, Sarid, and Crystal all waved goodbye to Elderbug as they headed towards the therapy clinic.

Mato, Sarid, and Crystal walked into the clinic, the bright colored walls making the place feel more comfortable to the children. Sarid and Crystal hid behind Mato as the moth sitting in the chair noticed the group.

“Hello! I’ll be right over there!”

The moth walked over to the group, carrying a quill with ink on it, as well as a couple pieces of paper. She turned to Sarid and Crystal who were hiding behind Mato’s legs. She smiled at the two.

“It’s okay, little ones. You’re safe here.”

Crystal jumped in front of Sarid as the moth reached towards him. She smacked the moth’s hand away. Mato looked at Crystal before remembering what they were created to do. He looked at the moth apologetically as he spoke.

“I’m sorry, they’ve been through a lot. Their father didn’t exactly intend for them to be children.”

The moth nodded understandingly, already knowing of the king’s plan.

“I know. Most of the moths know about the king’s plan. I’m actually kind of glad the king threw away the ones he deemed imperfect.”

Mato frowned, feeling a hiss bubbling in the back of his throat.

“What?”

The moth blushed as she sputtered.

“I didn’t mean anything bad by it, rather, that they end up finding a far better father than the king.”

Mato nodded, smiling. The moth started to rub her wings together, creating a quiet humming sound.

Sarid started to relax slightly, and stepped towards the moth. Crystal reached out to stop him, but ended up watching as her brother stepped towards the moth. She wondered why the moth hadn’t attacked them yet as she patted Sarid’s head. She introduced herself as she patted his head.

“My name is Sarah.”

The moth looked to Crystal as Sarid turned around to look at Crystal. Crystal sighed as she walked towards Sarah, swayed slightly by her brother’s bravery.

Mato realized neither of his kids had said their names, and were staring at him, shaking.

Sarid thought to himself, _ We need a prompt. Give us a prompt. We’ll do what you say. I don’t understand what’s going on. Why can’t I talk? Is Crystal going through this too? I hope not. _

Crystal also thought to herself,  _ Please give us a prompt. I thought we were doing better. Why is this happening? Why can’t I talk without being prompted? I hope Sarid isn’t going through this. _

Mato spoke, concerned for his kids.

“Can you two tell Sarah your names?”

No thoughts entered his mind, causing a pit of dread to form in his stomach. He thought to himself,  _ They’re shaking pretty bad. They’re scared. How did I not notice? No time to beat myself up. I have to help my kids. _ _ What could be causing this? Wait... Hornet said that in the White Palace they had to be prompted in order to do anything. I don’t want to give my kids a prompt, I don’t want to be like the king. _ He walked over to his kids, concern written all over his face. He got down on his knees to get to their eye level.

“It’s okay, you two. You two can speak all you want, remember? Nobody will hurt you for that. I won’t let anyone hurt you two for being yourselves. Especially not the king.”

Crystal and Sarid fell to the ground, black tears falling to the ground with quiet  _ plops. _ He hugged both of them to his chest, rubbing their back as he quietly hummed. He felt his children push their tear-stained faces into the fluff of his collar. He ignored the fact that Sarah had gone completely silent in favor of comforting his children.

Sarah thought to herself,  _ Poor kids. I know that the Pale King disposes of the “impure” ones, but they’re just kids. They shouldn’t have to go through any of that. They never should have gone through any of what they went through after escaping the Abyss. _ She waited for Mato to get to his feet before leading him into a room with a chair, and a couch.

Mato sat down on a worn, brown couch, his children clutching his collar. Sarah quickly sat across from him in an equally worn-looking chair. She grabbed two pieces of paper and a quill. She looked at Mato, smiling.

“I don’t believe I got their names.”

Mato replied, turning his head to Crystal.

“Her name’s Crystal, and her brother’s name is Sarid.”

Sarah nodded as she scribbled their names on separate papers.

“When they’re ready, can you tell me what they’ve been through?”

Mato nodded as he heard a quiet thought in his head.

“You can tell her. I’m going to take a nap.”

Mato nodded as Sarah heard the thought in her head as well. She looked around, confused. She looked back at Mato.

“Was that your kids?”

Mato nodded.

_ After Mato tells Sarah what the kids have been through _

Sarah looked at Mato, then the kids.

“I knew that they’d been through a lot, but that exceeded my expectations! I figured at the very least, they’d have to deal with the ‘being thrown away part’, but it seems like we’ll have more to unpack than just that, huh?”

Mato nodded, getting up to head outside. Sarah grabbed a couple colorful cubes from a nearby table and handed them to Mato.

“These are for Crystal and Sarid to play with. They’re puzzle toys that I found one day in the City of Tears. You can actually find quite a lot of interesting things there!”

Mato nodded and handed her 60 geo. He looked back to his kids, sleeping in the safety and comfort of his arms.

He chuckled as he looked back up at Sarah.

“Thank you for everything. I think I’ll go put them to bed now.”

Sarah nodded, watching as Mato exited the building.

Mato walked over to Sly’s shop, and knocked on the door. Sly opened the door, yawning.

“Mato, anything you need? Today’s been a slow day, so I closed up shop early. Come on in.”

Mato walked inside Sly’s house, and sat his kids down in a nearby chair. Sly spoke before Mato could ask his question.

“You’re welcome to stay whenever you want, or need to, Mato. That goes for my grandkids too.”

Mato nodded, hugging his dad. Sly picked up Crystal, leaving Mato to pick up Sarid. Sly turned to see Mato as he spoke.

“I got a room for you and your kids to stay in when you come over.”

Mato watched as Sly set Sarid down on a comfy looking bed. He carefully set Crystal down on the bed next to her brother before quickly climbing into the bed as well. He turned to Sly, smiling.

“Goodnight, Dad. I love you.”

Sly replied before he turned out the lights.

“I love you and your kids too, Mato. Goodnight you three.”

Mato heard Sly close the door as he drifted off.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Recovery isn't linear, there will be ups and downs in recovery.


	49. Brothers Deserve Visitors (No Matter How Mad at Them You Are)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Elisha wants to visit Oro's brothers to see if Sheo or Mato have seen any of his siblings. Oro does not want to visit Mato because of a promise he broke.

_ The next morning _

Elisha opened his eyes, the familiar feeling of Oro’s bed reminding him that he was no longer in the Abyss. He let out a sigh as he remembered the mask that he saw, the horns too similar to Crystal’s to be another sibling of his. He thought to himself,  _ I wonder if any of my other siblings made it out alive? I can’t be the only one. _ He jolted as he felt Oro sit up on the bed.

“Elisha, what are you thinking about?”

Elisha looked at him, a thought flowing through Oro’s brain like a stream.

“Thinking about siblings. Other survivors? Where?”

Oro thought for a moment, piecing together what his son was asking.

“I think if any of your siblings survived, they’d be with my brothers, or at the very least, near their houses. They live in places that don’t get many visitors.”

Elisha nodded as another thought flowed through Oro’s head.

“Like you?”

Oro chuckled, smiling.

“Yup, they’re like me. I hope they’re doing well.”

Elisha looked at him, curiosity radiating off of him.

“Brothers’ names?”

Oro smiled as he thought of Sheo, then frowned when he thought of Mato.

“My older brother’s name is Sheo.”

Elisha bounced up and down, a thought flowing through Oro’s head as he did so.

“Think Sheo see siblings?”

Oro shrugged.

“Maybe, we could go visit and see if he has.”

Elisha nodded before stopping, another thought flowing through Oro’s head.

“Other brother’s name?”

Oro frowned.

“His name’s Mato.”

Elisha nodded.

“Can go visit?”

Oro shook his head.

“We got into an argument a while back. We’re taking some time to calm down before we talk to each other again.”

Elisha tilted his head.

“Talk it out. Brothers. Friends again.”

Oro forced a smile.

“Yeah, I guess we could talk it out. That’ll work out  _ great.” _

Elisha nodded.

Oro thought to himself,  _ I really don’t want to see my brother again. He’s probably still mad at me over the promise I broke. All I did was charge some geo for learning my nail art! I have to eat too! _

He was snapped out of his thoughts by the sound of something metal clattering onto the ground. He looked to his side to see Elisha, a fork on the floor in front of him.

He got up and made Elisha and himself breakfast. The two talked over breakfast, figuring out when to visit Sheo and how to safely get to his house in Greenpath.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Me to Oro: Talk things out with your brother! It'll probably work out better than you think.


	50. Two Thirds of a Family Reunion

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Oro and Elisha visit Sly's shop. Elisha gets to see a couple of his siblings again.

_A bit later_

Oro glanced up from the empty plate sitting in front of him. He spoke as he looked at Elisha.

“Do you want to go visit Sheo after we put our dishes into the sink?”

Elisha nodded enthusiastically, his small body shaking due to the ferciousity of his nodding. Oro gently grabbed his shoulder.

“Alright, Elisha, I get it. Now _please_ stop it before you hurt yourself.”

Elisha stopped nodding, small quivers wracking his body as he abruptly stopped. Oro handed him a small, worn nail that was nearby.

“We’re heading out now. You’ll learn how to defend yourself on the way to Sheo’s house.”

Oro continued in his thoughts, _Or you’ll die._ He led Elisha outside before turning back to him as Elisha started to shake.

“Elisha, it’s okay. If you can’t defend yourself, I’ll step in, alright?”

Elisha nodded, black tears staining his white mask grey as they rolled down his face. Oro frowned, seeing the fear in his son’s posture. He offered his hand to Elisha, sighing.

“This is just so you don’t get too far away from me.”

Oro thought to himself as Elisha grabbed his hand, _I don’t want you to get hurt, or worse…_ He led Elisha through Kingdom’s Edge, being careful to not let the primal aspids get too close to his son. He saw a sign indicating that the stag station was right above him. He carefully led Elisha to the stag station, a bell sitting in the middle of a spike extending from the ground. He rang the bell, the sound echoing through the room. A stag quickly ran to the station, glancing at the Nailmaster and his kid. The stag smiled.

“Never thought I’d meet one of Sarid and the little one’s siblings all the way out here.”

Elisha tilted his head, his silent speech appearing as a thought in Stag’s head.

“Little one. Name?”

Stag shook his head.

“I don’t believe I caught her name, but I could tell you what she looks like, however.”

Elisha excitedly nodded. Stag smiled.

“The little one has horns that curve in a sort of wave-like way on the sides of the top of her head, and two horns on each side of her mask that point upward.”

Elisha jumped up and down. He thought to himself, _That sounds like Crystal! Maybe the sibling I saw at the bottom of the Abyss wasn’t her, but a sibling that looked like her? I hope so._ He turned back to Stag, another thought flowing through the beetle’s head.

“Where home? Want visit.”

Stag thought for a moment before replying.

“I believe she lives in Dirtmouth, or close to Dirtmouth.”

Oro sighed as he thought to himself, _I don’t want to go see my brother. If my brother is the same as four months ago, he’ll have adopted at least one kid. Of course the kid had to be one of Elisha’s siblings. Guess I can’t avoid him forever like I planned to…_ Oro looked at Stag.

“Can you please take us to Dirtmouth?”

Stag nodded, allowing Elisha to climb into the seats on his back, followed by Oro.

_After riding Stag to Dirtmouth_

Oro got off of the seats on Stag’s back, his feet landing on the ground with a loud _thump._ Elisha quickly got out of the seats after Oro, landing with a much quieter _thump._ Elisha ran to the elevator in the building before stopping to wait for his dad. Stag turned to Oro.

“You’re hesitating, is something the matter?”

Oro frowned.

“One of my family members and me got into a fight four months ago, and I don’t want to see him again. He might still be mad at me.”

Stag smiled reassuringly.

“I’m sure he’ll forgive you for whatever happened. There’s no point holding a grudge, after all.”

Oro nodded, waving goodbye to Stag as he led him out of the building. He noticed Sly’s shop close by and decided to head there for a bit. He figured he could talk to his dad about his worries. He knocked on the door, tensing up as he heard a familiar voice from the other side of the door.

“I’ll get it, Dad!”

When the door opened, he was greeted by the face of the bug he was hoping he wouldn’t see today. He smiled his best smile, trying to ignore the sweat starting to accumulate on his face.

“Hi, Mato. Long time no see.”

Mato huffed, his smile quickly turning to a frown.

“Hello, Brother. You’ve finally come back to apologize? It’s about time. It only took you _four_ months.”

Oro sighed, frowning. _So much for not holding a grudge after all this time._

“I’m still not apologizing, Mato. You may not have liked what I did, but I also have to eat, you know.”

Mato sneered.

“Making bugs pay to learn the nail art you teach? Such a _good_ person, who _definitely_ deserves to teach the nail art to others.”

Oro hissed.

“Mato, back off. I’m not in the mood to deal with _your_ petty attitude towards _my_ decisions.”

Sly walked into the room, glancing towards Mato, then Oro. He frowned and huffed.

“Are you two _done_ acting like grubs yet? Mato, how long are you going to hold this grudge towards your _brother?”_

Mato glared at Oro, voice unusually serious.

“Until he apologizes for what he did.”

Sly frowned.

“Mato, you _need_ to drop your grudge towards your brother. He’s your brother!”

Mato looked at Sly, then with his voice full of anger, spoke.

“He’s not my brother. My brother _wouldn’t_ charge bugs when they wanted to learn the nail art from him.”

Crystal peeked from around the corner of the kitchen, wondering what all the yelling was about. She wondered to herself, _Why’s Dad so mad? Who’s he yelling at? Who did he call ‘brother’?_

She noticed one of her siblings standing behind a bug that looked _very_ similar to her dad. She recognized her sibling nearly instantly. She silently yelled, catching the attention of all the bugs in the room.

“Elisha!”

Elisha looked at her, a flash of recognition sparking in his eyes. They ran towards each other, black tears forming at the corners of both of their eyes. Crystal and Elisha wrapped each other in a tight hug, silently daring _anyone_ to try to separate them. Crystal heard a thought in her head as Elisha sobbed into her shoulder.

“Thought lost you! Saw mask! Bottom of dark! Cracked! Leaking void. Thought was you!”

Crystal rubbed his back in gentle circles. She silently spoke for all the bugs in the room to hear.

“It’s okay. We’re safe here. Nothing will happen to us. It’s okay, Leesh.”

Elisha cried a bit harder upon hearing the nickname that Crystal used to call him when they would be out of the Pale King’s earshot and eyeshot. Crystal slightly panicked upon realizing Elisha had started to cry harder.

“I’m sorry. Are you okay? If you want, I can not call you that. I’m sorry for making you cry more.”

Elisha shook his head as he replied.

“Okay. Remembered nickname. Happy. Feel safer.”

Crystal nodded, picking up Elisha and carrying him over to the chair. She turned to see Sarid, tears pricking at the corners of his eyes. She walked over to him and adjusted how she was holding Elisha to allow her to pick up Sarid as well. She picked up Sarid and carried them both over to the chair.

She carefully sat down in the chair to keep from dropping her siblings. She took the blanket out of her body, and wrapped it around her siblings and herself. Sarid quickly took the blanket out of his body and handed it to Crystal. She wrapped Sarid’s blanket around herself and her siblings as well.

Oro made eye contact with Mato before he wrapped him in a hug. He spoke, voice shaking with slight embarrassment.

“I’m sorry, Mato. You’re right, I shouldn’t charge bugs to learn the nail art.”

Mato shook his head as he returned the hug, tears starting to roll down his face.

“I should be the one apologizing. I treated you like garbage because I was mad over something as _petty_ as what decisions _you_ made. Decisions that didn’t even have _anything_ to do with me.”

Sly smiled upon seeing his sons getting along again. He wiped a tear away as it slid down his face.

The group of bugs turned back to the trio of kids in the chair. Mato and Oro smiled as they realized the trio were sleeping peacefully, huddled together in the blankets.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I deviated from the outline for this chapter, but it worked out better than what I had planned. Guess what was supposed to happen in this chapter will happen in a later chapter?


	51. A Promise That I'll Keep

Sly walked into the kitchen and cooked six grilled cheeses for everyone in his house. He walked into the room where Mato had sat in the chair near the kids, and Oro sat in the chair next to him. He looked at Oro.

“Has Elisha tried grilled cheeses before?”

Oro shook his head.

“He hasn’t, but he might like it.”

Sly nodded and walked back into the kitchen. He grabbed a knife and cut the grilled cheeses into four equal slices. Sly walked back into the room, carrying a couple plates with grilled cheese slices on them. He sat the plates down on a table near the chairs as he glanced over to the kids, sleeping peacefully in the chair. He turned to his sons and smiled.

“Do you want to wake them up now, or wait until the sandwiches have cooled down a bit?”

Mato and Oro looked at each other. Mato spoke.

“Do you think we should wake them up, or wait until the food cools a bit?”

Oro thought for a moment before responding.

“I think we should let them sleep while the food cools.”

Mato nodded.

_ 15 minutes later _

Mato walked over and gently woke Crystal, Sarid, and Elisha.

“Dinner’s ready.”

Crystal silently yawned and nodded. She scooped her siblings into her arms and carried her siblings over to the table. Oro scoffed. 

“They can walk, y’know.”

She ignored him in favor of gently setting her siblings on the ground and holding them upright. Mato heard a thought in his head as Crystal shook her siblings extremely gently.

“Elisha, Sarid, it’s time to wake up. You two can nap some more after you eat.”

_ After everyone finishes eating the grilled cheeses _

Crystal, Elisha, and Sarid ran over to Sly and gave him a hug. Mato, Oro, and Sly smiled as they heard a thought in their heads.

“Thank you!”

Crystal walked over to her dad, remembering something she had seen in the temple. She tugged on his cape, quickly getting his attention. Mato heard a thought in his head as she spoke, curiosity slamming into his mind.

“Who’s masks were those in the temple?”

Mato thought for a moment before replying.

“I believe they’re the dreamers. They were  _ supposed to _ seal the Radiance in the temple.”

Crystal let out a silent huff of agitation.

“And my sibling.”

Mato gave her a hug, wiping tears she didn’t remember shedding from her eyes.

“We’ll save your sibling, I promise.”

Crystal nodded, nestling into her dad’s fluffy collar. A thought flowed through Mato’s head.

“I want to see them again. I want to let them know it’s okay to be themselves.”


	52. Information and Hints

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Mato receives some information on waking the dreamers.

_A few hours later_

Oro turned to Sly.

“I think Elisha and I are going to head home now.”

Sly nodded and Mato turned to Oro.

“Do you think there’s anyone in the City of Tears who knows where the dreamers could be?”

Oro thought for a moment.

“I believe there’s a relic seeker in the city. He’s probably your best bet.”

Mato nodded.

“Well, in that case, I’m coming with you.”

Oro nodded.

_After the group says goodbye to Sly and heads to the Stag Station_

Elisha ran up to Stag, quickly giving him a hug. Stag turned to Crystal after Elisha released him from the hug.

“Oh! Little one, I don’t believe I ever got your name.”

Crystal excitedly ran over, hugging Stag.

“My name’s Crystal!”

Stag smiled.

“That’s a very pretty name.”

Sarid walked over to Stag and wrapped his arms around Stag’s leg. Stag smiled down at him.

“Hello there, Sarid. I see your mask has healed most of the way.”

Sarid nodded as a thought flowed through Stag’s mind.

“Yup!”

Sarid, Crystal, and Elisha climbed onto the seats on Stag’s back. Oro and Mato also climbed onto Stag’s back.

_A stag ride with many stops later_

Crystal hopped off of Stag’s back and quickly helped her siblings out of the seat they shared. Oro and Mato quickly got out of the seat they sat in before turning back to Stag. Mato spoke, smiling at Stag.

“Thank you for bringing us here.”

Stag smiled as he watched the group head outside the stag station.

_When Mato reaches Lemm’s shop after telling Oro bye before they parted ways_

Mato walked into the shop, an extremely hairy bug waiting at the counter. The bug looked at him, then Crystal and Sarid, then glared at him. He heard the bug sternly speak.

“Control your kids or get out.”

Mato looked to Crystal and Sarid, who were surprisingly, not running all over the place. He looked to the bug, about to speak before he was interrupted by the bug.

“They’re kids, do you know how kids act in shops? Maybe yours are an exception, but I’m not going to assume the best of your kids with all my relics around.”

Mato nodded in understanding. The bug continued.

“Now, what do you want?”

Mato smiled.

“I was hoping that you might have any idea where the dreamers could be?”

The bug thought for a moment before replying.

“I believe one of the dreamers, Lurien, to be specific is near us, somewhere in the city. Another is in Deepnest, and the final one I believe is in Fungal Wastes. You’ll need something from the moths to wake them though.”

Mato nodded.

“Thank you, sir.”

The bug glared at him.

“Alright, get out of my shop. I’m closing for the day soon.”

Mato nodded, leading his kids out of the bug’s shop. Mato turned to Crystal and Sarid.

“We’ll have to wake the dreamers, so we should probably start trying to find a moth that’ll help us.”

Crystal nodded, a thought quickly flowing through Mato’s head.

“Our therapist is a moth. We could ask her.”

Mato nodded.

_After getting to the stag station, and going back to Dirtmouth_

Mato helped Sarid off of Stag’s back as Crystal glided down from Stag’s back. Crystal and Sarid gave Stag a quick hug before heading outside with their dad.

They quickly headed over to the therapy clinic, quickly spotting Sarah at her desk, reading a book. They waited patiently as she looked up at them gasping before apologizing for getting too caught up in her book. She looked at Crystal and Sarid, a concerned look quickly finding its way onto her face.

“Do you two need to talk about something?”

Crystal and Sarid shook their heads before a thought flowed through Sarah’s head. Mato heard the same thought in his head and wondered if his kids were going to be braver than him when they grew up.

“Do you know of something to wake the dreamers? I want to see my sibling.”

Sarah nodded.

“There’s a moth in the Resting Grounds that should have what you’re looking for.”

Crystal nodded, another thought flowing through Sarah’s mind.

“Thank you!”

Sarah watched the group leave the building, a frown forming on her face. She thought to herself, _I don’t think their sibling is going to be the same as they remember them. They contain the heart of the infection inside them, and from what I can tell, the "vessels" are too much like children for a pure vessel to exist.  
_

Mato took Crystal and Sarid to Sly’s house. Sly fed them and let them sleep at his house for the night.


	53. Resting

_ The next morning _

Mato got out of the bed he shared with his children. He looked to his children, still sleeping soundly in the bed as if he never left their side. He walked into the kitchen, hearing his dad humming a tune as he cooked pancakes for breakfast. Sly turned to him, grabbing a couple plates to put the pancakes on.

“Good morning, Mato. How did you sleep?”

Mato smiled.

“Good morning, Dad. I slept alright. I’m going to go wake Crystal and Sarid.”

Sly nodded, leaving Mato to wake his grandchildren. Mato walked into the other room.

Mato turned to his kids and smiled. He gently woke his kids and walked with them back to the kitchen. Crystal and Sarid ran to the kitchen table, warm pancakes with sweet syrup awaiting them. They quickly sat down, grabbing the forks near their plates. As they ate their pancakes, Sly heard a thought in his head. Mato smiled as he heard the thought in his head.

“Thank you, Uncle Sly!”

_ 35 minutes later _

Mato turned to his dad.

“I think we’re going to visit the Resting Grounds today. We’ll see you later, Dad.”

Sly nodded.

“Be careful, Mato.”

Mato put his hand on his dad’s shoulder.

“I’ll be okay, Dad. I promise.”

Sly looked over to Crystal and Sarid.

“That goes for you two, too. Please don’t give your dad a heart attack.”

Crystal and Sarid nodded simultaneously. Sly watched as Mato walked out of the house, Crystal and Sarid in tow.

_ One short walk to the stag station later _

Mato and his kids walked into the stag station in Dirtmouth. They walked onto the elevator. It started going down, and Mato realized Stag was nowhere to be seen. He heard a couple thoughts in his head, concern stuck to the thought.

“I hope Stag’s okay. He’s usually here.”

He turned to his kids, and saw black tears snaking their way down his kids’ faces. He wiped the tears from their faces and hugged them.

“I’m sure he’s okay. I’ll ring the bell over there.”

He walked over to the bell and gently tapped it with the blunt of his nail. A short chime rang out, echoing into the stagway tunnels. He heard the loud footsteps of Stag echoing through the tunnels before he quickly appeared. Crystal and Sarid ran over to Stag, quickly wrapping themselves around his right frontmost legs. Stag looked to the children who had wrapped themselves around his legs. He noticed the greyish tear stains on their faces.

“It’s okay, little ones. I’m okay.”

He looked to Mato.

“I assume you want to go somewhere?”

Mato nodded.

“I was wondering if you could take us to the Resting Grounds? I heard that a moth there might have what we need to free Crystal and Sarid’s sibling.”

Stag nodded, and looked at Crystal and Sarid.

“Alright little ones, I’ll lower down so you can climb onto my back, but you’ll need to give me some space first.”

Crystal and Sarid nodded before letting go of Stag’s legs. They quickly climbed up the little ledge and walked over to their dad. Stag lowered himself to the ground before looking back to the kids.

“Alright, you can get on.”

Crystal and Sarid carefully got into the seats on his back. Mato looked at Stag.

“Are you sure it’s alright for you to carry me at the same time as my kids? You seemed sore after carrying my kids, my brother, my brother’s kid, and me, all at the same time.”

Stag nodded.

“I’ll be alright, Nailmaster.”

Mato smiled.

“Mato, just Mato is fine.”

Stag nodded, allowing Mato to get into the seat next to his kids. Stag took off into the stagways upon everyone’s confirmation that they were ready to go.

_ 25 minutes later at the Resting Grounds stag station _

Stag came to a stop, his feet skidding slightly, kicking up a small cloud of dust. Mato helped his kids off Stag’s back, turning back to the beetle with a smile.

“Thank you, Stag.”

Stag nodded before watching Mato, Crystal, and Sarid leave the room.

Mato let out a sigh as his kids jumped down from the ledge, disappearing from view.

“They’re going to give me a heart attack one of these days.”

He jumped down from the ledge, seeing his kids disappear from view as they headed into a different section of the Resting Grounds. He followed them, thinking to himself.  _ Please don’t let there be anything dangerous… _

He noticed Sarid had stopped to the side of statues of the Dreamers, while Crystal continued closer to them. He watched as she started to read a tablet in front of the statues. He frowned as a white, magical barrier formed around her. He ran over to the barrier, trying to figure out how to get past it. He quietly gasped as spectral versions of the Dreamers formed in the air above his daughter. He heard Monomon speak, contemplating aloud.

“Would it seek to break the Seals?”

He heard Herrah’s voice next.

“They cannot be undone.”

He heard Lurien retort, glaring at Herrah.

“They must be undone.”

He heard Herrah speak as she turned to see Crystal, watching them argue.

“Let us sleep, little shadow. Return to your darkness. Allow us our peace.”

He pounded on the barrier as fear for his daughter’s safety made itself known to him.

He watched in horror as Herrah bombarded Crystal with dream essence, quickly overwhelming his daughter. He barely heard the  _ thump _ as she fell to the ground, the sound almost drowned out by the loud buzzing in the air from the essence. He screamed, tears rolling down his face.

“Stop!  _ Please _ stop! You’re hurting her! She’s just a  _ kid! _ She  _ just _ wants to see her sibling again!”

Herrah glared at him before the Dreamers disappeared. He watched as the barrier disappeared with a quiet  _ fizz. _

He ran over to Crystal, Sarid doing the same. He cradled her to his chest as he fell to his knees. He heard Sarid in his head as he grabbed his sister’s hand, and gently squeezed it.

“Crystal,  _ please _ wake up!”

He heard another thought in his head.

“Dad, she’s okay, right?  _ Right?” _

He looked at his son, to see black tears rolling down his face. He hugged his son close to his side. He spoke as he felt for a pulse in Crystal’s wrist.

“She’s okay, Sarid. She has a pulse. She’s still breathing.”

Sarid nodded. Mato wiped the tears from his son’s eyes. Mato turned around as he heard quiet footsteps from behind him and his son.

He was greeted by the sight of an old moth. The moth looked at his daughter, then him.

“Follow me. It’s not too late to save her.”

He followed the moth into the previous area. He turned to Sarid.

“Climb onto my back, and hold on tight.”

Sarid nodded, quickly climbing onto Mato’s back. Mato followed the moth up the platforms, and into a room above the stag station.

The moth pulled the handle of a nail out of her cloak. Sarid hid behind his dad, warily watching as the moth swung the handle in front of his sister. The moth fell to the ground, a white glow surrounding her.

_ 5 minutes later _

Mato watched as Crystal awoke in his arms, filling him with a sense of relief. He watched as the moth got to her feet, and handed the handle of the nail to Crystal.

“That is the dream nail. It allows the bearer to enter the dreams of some bugs. It also allows the bearer to read the minds of bugs.”

Crystal nodded as a thought flowed through Mato’s mind.

“Thank you for the dream nail, and saving me. My name’s Crystal. What’s your name?”

The moth smiled.

“You can call me Seer.”

Crystal nodded. Mato smiled as he looked at Seer.

“Thank you for saving my daughter.”

Seer nodded.

_ After a while _

Mato turned to his kids, then Seer.

“I think we should go to the City of Tears.”

Seer nodded, and watched as the family trio left the room, heading for the stag station.

Stag turned to Mato.

“Are you ready to head back to Dirtmouth?”

Mato shook his head.

“We need to go to the City of Tears. We have someone to wake.”

Stag nodded, allowing the group to get onto his back.

_ After going through the stagways to the City of Tears _

Mato helped Crystal and Sarid off of Stag’s back. Stag watched them disappear into the city from the King’s Station. He sighed.

“Please come back safe, you three.”


	54. We're Off to Find the Dreamer

Mato looked down and was greeted by the sight of black water. He grimaced.  _ How am I supposed to get my kids across that? Us bugs can’t go across that, and there’s infected bugs everywhere in this area of the King’s Station! I’m not about to risk my kids’ lives to try and get them across the water. _ He turned to his kids.

“Stay here, you two. I’m going to clear the area of infected bugs, then you can follow me, alright?”

He heard a thought in his head as Sarid tugged on his arm.

“Why can’t we go down there and just cross the black water?”

Mato looked at his son.

“Bugs usually drown if they try to cross water. Most of us can’t swim that well.”

Sarid nodded, then pointed at his dad. A thought flowed through Mato’s head.

“Can you swim?”

Mato shook his head.

“Not that well, unfortunately. If I could swim, I could carry you both across.”

Sarid nodded, leaving Mato to kill the infected bugs in the area. Crystal noticed Sarid scratching his arm, a familiar covering visible where he was scratching. She tugged on her brother’s arm as a thought flowed through his head.

“You’re going to molt soon. Leave it. It’ll come off when you molt, promise.”

Sarid shook his head, a thought flowing through Crystal’s head in response.

“It itches!”

Crystal nodded, giving her brother a gentle hug.

“I know. You have to leave it alone though.”

Sarid nodded, letting out a silent sigh. Crystal released him from the hug. They heard Mato yell after a moment.

“I think I’ve got all the infected bugs in the area down, so I’ll come back over there and get you two!”

Mato walked back over and carefully led his kids onto a floating platform, then onto another platform. He quickly turned around as he heard a scream in his head. He performed a mental headcount of his kids, revealing one to be missing. He looked around, hoping that his daughter was just lagging behind a little bit. He felt panic rise in his chest as his thoughts spun around in his head.  _ She couldn’t have fallen into the water! I would have heard the splash. _ He looked over the edge of the platform, being careful not to fall in. He saw a white mask in the black water. He yelled over the edge.

“Crystal, don’t worry! I’ll figure out how to get you out!”

He watched as Crystal looked at him, no sign of injury evident from how she was acting. He heard a thought in his head as Crystal waved at him.

“Dad, I’m okay. Turns out vessels can float.”

Mato smiled and let out a sigh of relief. He then spoke.

“Please get out of the water before you get sick.”

Crystal shook her head. Mato frowned.

“Crystal, get out of the water.”

Crystal shook her head again as Mato heard a thought in his head.

“I think I’m going to stay here for a bit.”

Mato glowered. Sarid silently laughed behind him.  _ Note to self: Keep Crystal away from water. You’ll have to fight with her to get her out. _

“Crystal, get out of the water.”

Crystal shook her head, provoking more laughter from Sarid. Mato heard another thought in his head.

“You can’t swim, so you can’t get me.”

_ Half an hour of fighting later _

Mato let out a sigh as Crystal  _ finally  _ got out of the water. He walked over to her. He sat down in front of her. She quickly did the same.

“Why didn’t you get out of the water when I told you to?”

He heard a thought flow through his head as Crystal silently spoke.

“It reminds me of the black stuff that my sibling’s bodies and my body are made of.”

Mato nodded, a small smile forming on his face.

“We’ll save your siblings.”

Crystal grabbed her dad’s hand, happiness spreading throughout her dad as she thought of seeing her siblings again.

_ A short bit of walking later _

Mato watched as the giant husk sentry carefully patrolled the area surrounding the King’s Station, keeping enough of its mind to know what it was supposed to do, but not enough to easily pass by. He turned to his children, hoping that his plan would work.

“After I clear out the smaller infected bugs, I need you two to run across. Don’t look back and  _ don’t _ wait for me.”

Sarid and Crystal shared worried glances, the worry quickly spreading to their dad’s mind as well. Mato smiled, hoping to reassure his children.

“I’ll be okay, I promise. Once you two get to safety, you can wait for me.”

Crystal and Sarid nodded simultaneously, looking their dad in the eyes. Mato nodded as he heard a thought in his head while he ran to exterminate the smaller infected bugs.

“Be careful, Dad.”

Crystal and Sarid watched as Mato cleared out the smaller bugs, quickly running across the stone boardwalk as the last smaller infected bug fell to Mato’s nail. They jumped across a gap where the boardwalk had crumbled, exposing the black water beneath the city. Crystal felt Sarid’s hand slip out of hers as they came closer to a secluded cove that she assumed led deeper into the city. She turned around, seeing a giant husk sentry towering over her brother. She ran over, grabbing her brother, who felt like a deadweight in her arms. She looked up and closed her eyes as she saw the husk’s nail swing towards her.  _ I’m sorry, Sarid. I couldn’t protect you when you needed it most. _

She felt herself and her brother as they were grabbed, and quickly taken somewhere safer. She felt cold ground beneath her, causing her to shiver slightly. She heard her dad’s voice.

“Crystal, it’s okay. You can open your eyes now. We’re all safe.”

She opened her eyes, quickly being greeted by the sight of her dad’s face, warped by concern, before quickly turning to relief. He let out a sigh as he quickly checked over his kids, finding no injuries on their bodies. He looked back to Sarid, before looking back to Crystal.

“Your brother’s molting, so we might have to stay here a while.”

Crystal nodded.

“I know.”

Mato spoke after he heard Crystal’s stomach growl.

“I’m going to go hunt us something to eat. Stay here with your brother.”

Crystal nodded, leaving Mato to prepare to leave his kids completely alone. She watched as he paused in the doorway, before he turned to glance over his shoulder.

“Please stay with your brother.”

Crystal nodded, watching as Mato walked outside, nail in hand.


	55. Curiousity Kills the Cat, but Only Sometimes

_ 15 minutes later _

Crystal let out a sigh, glancing over to her brother, who was still molting. She absentmindedly tapped her claws on the side of her mask, trying to figure out something to do while she waited for her dad to return. She carefully peered over the ledge of the nearby elevator, the ground barely visible through the darkness. She spread her wings before smoothly gliding down to the ground underneath the elevator.

She landed on the ground, quickly looking back up to the elevator. She let out a sigh as she realized she wouldn’t be able to get back up by herself. She heard wings buzzing behind her and turned around, quickly being greeted by the sight of a flying sentry wielding a lance in its hand. She was about to ask it for help, but was cut short by the lance flying past her, causing her shirt to briefly move as the air rushed past. She grabbed the nail from her back and looked at the sentry’s eyes. She let out a silent huff as she spotted the orange swirling around in its eyes.  _ I don’t want to die here… It’s me or the bug. _ She lunged at the bug, nail poised to strike.

The bug moved to the side while she continued flying forward. Crystal fell to the ground, her nail flying far away from her. She silently cried out in pain as she felt something sharp pierce her abdomen. She tried to crawl into a nearby crevice, only to find the sharp object had embedded itself into the ground under her. She heard something fall from the ceiling and crush the sentry behind her. She let out a sigh of relief as black tears rolled down her face.  _ I hope Dad comes back soon... _


	56. I'm Sorry For Leaving You Alone

_ Meanwhile, near the Nailsmith’s hut _

Mato let out a sigh before muttering under his breath.

“I was hoping to stay near my kids, but no, the food has to be  _ all _ the way over here!”

He quickly speared a vengefly on the tip of his nail as it came closer to him. He let out a sigh as he pulled the fly off it, realizing it wasn’t enough food for both his kids and him. He noticed another vengefly past a husk and an infected sentry. He quickly killed the infected sentry and husk before he speared the other vengefly on the tip of his nail. He pulled the other fly off of his nail, quickly noticing a hut nearby, dark smoke billowing out of its chimney.

He quickly climbed a nearby wall and pushed himself off of it as he jumped off of it. He landed safely and headed inside the hut.

He quickly noticed a bug working on a nail, who turned to him upon realizing he wasn’t dropping off a nail. The bug glanced at the two vengeflies he was carrying. The bug smiled at him.

“Is there anything I can help you with? I presume you aren’t dropping off a nail to be fixed because if you were, you would have done that and left by now.”

Mato nodded.

“I was wondering if I could use your stove to cook some food.”

The bug quickly grabbed some food that was already cooked and handed it to Mato.

“I assume you have little ones somewhere nearby? Most older bugs aren’t that cautious with food during these trying times unless they have little ones they’re taking care of.”

Mato took the food and nodded.

“One of my little ones is molting at the moment. I just want to make sure he finishes molting and gets to grow up. I know he’s going to need food when he finishes molting and I’m scared I won’t be able to protect them enough.”

The bug nodded and placed a claw on Mato’s shoulder.

“You’ll do your best. If your best turns out not to be enough, at least you will know that you did your best. You’re the only dad your little ones have. I think you should get back to your young.”

Mato nodded and waved goodbye to the Nailsmith.

_ After a long walk back to the cove _

Mato walked inside the cove, spotting Sarid, but not Crystal. He let out a sigh before starting to look around for her. He was about to head outside to look for her when he heard a thought flow through his head, exhaustion coming with it.

“Dad, I’m sorry. I should have listened to you.”

Mato looked below the broken elevator, a pale glow coming from below it. He quickly climbed down the wall, finally being able to see his daughter. He rushed over to her side, collapsing onto the ground beside her. He was grateful that Sarid was oblivious to what had happened below him. He was glad he didn’t have to deal with the pain of what happened yet. Mato spoke, voice breaking as tears slid down his cheeks.  _ Please wake up… Please be okay... _

“Sweetheart?”

He grabbed her hand and gently squeezed it.

“Please wake up.  _ Please. _ You  _ have _ to wake up.”

She didn’t flinch as he pulled the lance from her body, a black string of blood quickly being severed as he threw it away from his daughter. He heard it hit the ground with a loud  _ clang. _ He looked back to his daughter, her black blood forming a puddle around her.

He scooped her into his arms, ignoring the cold blood that would stain his sleeves black. He climbed back up the wall, his tears blurring his vision. He sat down next to his son as he clutched his daughter to his chest. He sobbed as he muttered quiet apologies to his daughter, too faint for any bug outside of the cove to hear.


	57. Regrets and Doubts

Mato looked over to Sarid, a couple tears falling from his face.

“I promise to do a better job of protecting you.”

He looked to his daughter, still clutched to his chest. He muttered to himself as fresh tears slid down his face.

“I won’t make the same mistake a second time.”

He looked back over to Sarid, noting the clear covering on his mask was about halfway off now. He got up and walked over to the door. He glanced over his shoulder at Sarid.

“I’ll be back soon.”

Mato walked to the memorial to the Hollow Knight, who he now knew to be his kid’s sibling.  _ I figure if she had any say in where she’d be after death, it’d be with the sibling she wanted to save.  _ He laid Crystal down on the memorial. He took off his cape and covered her with it, obscuring her from the world.

_ A short walk back to the cove later _

Mato walked back into the cove, relieved to see his son was still molting. He sat down and watched his son molt. He frowned as he started to cry again.

“Maybe I’m not fit to be your dad. You keep getting hurt and now your sister’s dead. I should have stayed with you two, kept her entertained. If I  _ stayed _ with you two, maybe she wouldn’t have explored below the elevator and gotten impaled on a lance. Maybe I should find someone else to be your dad.”


	58. Bugs React in Their Own Ways

_ The next day _

Mato awoke with a start as he felt claws wiping the tears from his eyes. He heard a thought flow through his head as his son looked at him, concern flooding his mind.

“Dad, what’s wrong? Where’s Crystal?”

Mato spoke, voice wavering as he continued crying.

“Sarid, am I correct in assuming you know what death is?”

Sarid nodded, a couple broken masks on a dark floor appearing in Mato’s mind. Mato nodded, a frown appearing on his face. He went to speak, but was cut short by Sarid screaming, a combination of void and soul appearing around his son.

“She’s not dead! Dad, she can’t be dead! We’re supposed to save our sibling together!”

He was stunned as his son ran out of the cove into danger, inky black tears falling from his face. Mato ran out after his son, the infected sentries failing to eliminate the two bugs running near them. He heard Sarid yelling his sister’s name in his head. Mato screamed his son’s name, tears falling from his face.  _ I can’t lose him too… Please, Sarid. Please come back! _

_ A bit of running later _

Mato ran over to his son’s side as he collapsed onto the ground, jet black tears falling from his kid’s face as he pulled him to his chest. He heard his son’s silent speech in his head as his child sobbed into his collar as rain poured down, drenching their clothes.

“I can’t save our sibling by myself, Dad. I’m not strong enough.”

Mato rubbed circles into his son’s back. He looked up upon feeling the rain abruptly stop soaking his clothes.

Lemm towered over him, umbrella in hand, shielding the two from the rain.

“You two, come to my shop for some tea. You’ll have to dry off, of course.”

Mato nodded and quickly got up. He carried Sarid, following Lemm to his shop.

Lemm invited the duo into his shop, quickly fetching some tea. He looked back to Sarid, who was still crying into his dad’s collar. He gave the two each a mug of tea. He let out a sigh.

“You two can stay here for the night, however, I expect both of you out of my shop by the time I open it in the morning.”

Mato nodded, glancing at his kid. Sarid had fallen asleep, worn out by all the crying he had done.

Lemm handed Mato a couple blankets and pillows. He pointed to a corner of his shop, far away from his relics.

“You can make yourselves right at home over there.”

Mato looked back to thank Lemm, but he had already disappeared to his own bed somewhere in the building. Mato made a mental note to thank him in the morning and quickly made a makeshift bed. He laid his son down for the night. He wrapped his son in the blankets, causing Sarid to look more like a grub than a freshly molted bug.

He laid down on the cold ground near the bed after making sure his son was comfortable.


	59. Broken Promises

Mato awoke, quickly glancing over to where Sarid was laying the night before. He quickly jumped up, scanning the room for any sign of his kid. He relaxed  _ slightly _ upon seeing Sarid come back into the room, a couple tea bags in his hands.  _ He’s okay. He’s not dead. He might die trying to save his sibling. He should stay home, where it’s safe. Where he can’t get hurt. Where I can protect him. _ He looked over upon hearing footsteps. He was greeted by the sight of Lemm setting up shop for the day. Mato looked back to his son.

“Sarid, we’re going to head back home.”

He looked back over to Lemm.

“Thank you for letting us stay the night in your shop.”

Lemm nodded, silently ushering the duo out of his shop.

As Mato led Sarid to the Stag Station, Sarid noticed how tense his dad had become. He tugged on his dad’s sleeve, hoping to offer some reassurance. He jumped back slightly as his dad quickly swung his nail in an arch, barely missing where he stood before. He looked up at his dad, shaking, tears blurring his vision.

“Dad, you almost hit me...”

He watched his dad fall to the ground, his nail landing on the ground next to him. He heard his dad’s voice waver as he watched him cry.

“Sarid, I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean to. I’m sorry.”

Mato thought to himself, all his feelings laid bare in his mind.  _ I’m going to fail to protect him. I could have killed him. I got Crystal killed. He’s not safe around me. I can’t protect him. I’m a monster. I’ll only hurt him. He’ll die if he stays with me. _

Sarid stepped closer to his dad, wanting nothing more than to hug him, to tell him it’d be okay. His dad flinched away from him as if he was holding a can of pesticide. He jumped back as his dad roared at him, tears sliding down his dad’s face.

“Get away from me! I’m a monster, a murderer! I got your sister  _ killed! _ I could have killed  _ you _ a few seconds ago! You’d be safer if you left me!”

Sarid stepped closer to his dad, tears in his eyes.

“Dad, that’s not true!”

Mato grabbed his nail and threw it at Sarid. Sarid mentally yelped as he jumped to the side. Mato continued yelling.

“Leave! I failed to protect your sister and I’ll fail to protect you too.”

Sarid turned away from his dad and ran. The lumaflies in the air caused small amounts of light to reflect off of his black tears as they fell. He thought to himself as he collapsed to the ground, tears rolling from his face onto the cold ground.  _ I thought that Dad would take care of me. I thought I’d get to grow up in a safe place. I thought I wouldn’t have to fight to survive anymore. I thought I finally had somewhere I could call home. _

Mato got up, crying, and headed the rest of the way to the Stag Station. He thought to himself.  _ I’d only fail to protect him. He’s safer this way. _


	60. Come Back Home

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The title for this chapter is from Maisy Kay's "Come Back Home".

Mato walked into the King’s station, quickly noticing the husks he had killed before were seamlessly reanimated. He quickly headed to the Stag Station.

Stag turned to see who had entered the station and was greeted by the sight of Mato. Stag quickly noticed the absence of two little ones that traveled with Mato. He looked at him.

“If I may ask, where are your little ones?”

Mato shook his head.

“They’re better off far from me. Can you please take me back to Dirtmouth?”

Stag nodded as he frowned. He allowed Mato to get on his back before running to Dirtmouth’s stag station.

Upon reaching the stag station, Mato quickly got down from the seat on Stag’s back. He quickly ran outside and ran past Elderbug without so much as a glance his way. He quickly climbed the cliffside and ran home. He sat down on the ground and started to think.  _ Maybe I’m making a mistake. He’s just a kid. He can’t defend himself. He can’t defend himself from me, either. I should go back and find him. What if I hurt him when I find him? I shouldn’t go back to find him. I’d hurt him. _

_ Meanwhile, in the City of Tears _

Sarid got up and looked around. He looked back the way he came, the way his dad was. He thought to himself.  _ He wouldn’t like to see me again. I shouldn’t go back to him. He doesn’t love me anymore. He told me to leave. Maybe it was my fault. I must have done something wrong. _ Sarid ran towards Lemm’s shop, hoping that the bug would let him live with him. He mentally screamed as he felt the ground beneath his feet disappear before he started to fall.

He got up, grateful that he hadn’t cracked his mask. He felt the clothes he wore were unusually cold and wet. He walked around, trying to ignore the puddles that quickly soaked his feet, causing slight shivers to crawl through his body. He fell down due to the slipperiness of the ground more than a few times, quickly acquiring a few scratches that bled black blood. He heard humming coming from somewhere nearby. He followed the sound, hoping to find someone in the dark and damp area below the city.

He quickly found a bug who went by the name ‘Cornifer’.

The bug turned to him and looked him up and down, quickly noticing the scratches all over his body. He quickly motioned for Sarid to come over.

“Come here, please. I would like to take care of your injuries, especially if you’re planning to go deeper into these waterways.”

Sarid ran towards him, quickly burying himself into the bug’s shoulder. He didn’t like this place, mostly due to the noises that emanated from somewhere further down into the waterways. He felt Cornifer gently rubbing his back in circles, just like his dad would. He started to cry as his memories quickly shifted from being comforted by his dad to being told to leave. Cornifer quickly pulled his hand away upon realizing Sarid was more upset due to his attempt to comfort him.

“I don’t believe I got your name, little one.”

Cornifer heard a thought flow through his head like a stream.

“My name’s Sarid. Do you know where Dirtmouth is?”

Cornifer hummed.

“I believe there’s a stag station nearby somewhere. Would you like to travel with me to it? It’s about time I head home to my wife.”

Sarid nodded before heading to the stag station with Cornifer.

_ A long Stag ride later _

Sarid hopped off of Stag’s back, Cornifer quickly doing the same. Sarid ran over to the elevator, one place in mind.  _ Home. _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I crave feedback.


	61. Home

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sarid returns home.

Sarid ran outside as fast as his legs could carry him. He quickly found himself standing in front of the cliff that led from Dirtmouth to his home. He propelled himself into the air before digging his claws into the gaps between the rocks that made up the cliffside. He pushed himself away from the rocks, briefly letting go to propel himself higher into the air. He quickly dug his claws back into the gaps, finding himself higher than a few seconds ago. He repeated the process until he reached the top, the ledge in his reach.

He pulled himself over with a silent grunt. He swiftly located his dad’s hut, secluded, and hidden underneath a cliff.

He ran inside the interior a stark difference from what he remembered. Shards of glass lay on the floor, a few lumaflies staying in the hut, but barely lighting up the room. Broken shards of a nail lay on the ground near a figure sleeping on the floor. Sarid ran over upon realizing who it was, quickly burying himself into his dad’s collar.

He gently wiped tear tracks from his dad’s face, careful not to scratch him with his claws.

He felt his dad sleepily rub his eyes before flinching backward. He frantically spoke, voice cracking and breaking as new tears started to roll down his face.

“Sarid?! I’m so sorry for leaving you by yourself in the city. That was a mistake. I can understand if you don’t forgive me for that. I wouldn’t blame you if you hate me.”

Sarid shook his head, a quiet voice appearing in Mato’s head.

“Dad, it’s okay. I don’t hate you. I never blamed you for anything that happened. You didn’t know what would happen and you were trying your best.”

He felt his dad gently hug him to his chest.

“What did I do to deserve such a wonderful kid like you?”

He heard a thought flow through his head.

“You’re you. You don’t pretend to be somebody else.”

Mato smiled and got up. He picked Sarid up and carried him to his bed. He laid him in bed and covered him with a nearby blanket. He walked over to his own bed and laid down for the night.


	62. Unmasked Truths

Mato awoke the next morning, the broken remains of his nail still laying on his floor. He mentally chastatised himself for not cleaning up after himself, even when his son wasn’t in the house. He got up and headed to the sink, wondering where Lurien the Watcher could be as he reached his hand into his pocket, searching for the nail Seer had given his daughter in the Resting Grounds. He felt tears slide down his face as he realized that the moth had given the nail to his kid, his  _ daughter,  _ which meant he would have to head back to the City of Tears and try to find it. He scrubbed cold salty tears from his face as they slid down like rain. He took a moment to compose himself before walking over to his son to wake him for the day.

He gently woke Sarid, a thought flowing through his mind, barely distungishable from his own.

“Five minutes.”

Mato chuckled, his laugh sounding hollow compared to how it sounded before his vision of his kids growing up into happy adult bugs was shattered. Sarid got up, casting him a concerned glance. Mato heard a thought in his head.

“Dad, it’ll be okay. I promise. Maybe not now, but eventually. We’ll be okay.”

Mato nodded, trying not to cry. He spoke, willing his voice not to break and waver.

“Sarid, I have to head back to the City to find something that we left behind. Would you like to come with me to pay respects to your sister together?”

Sarid nodded, inky black tears forming in the corners of his eyes.

“I figure if the roles were reversed, she’d do the same for me.”

Mato nodded, leading his son out of the house after they ate breakfast. They headed to the Stag Station and was greeted by Stag waiting for them.

Stag perked up upon seeing Mato and Sarid.

“Ah! I see little Sarid and you have reunited!”

His smile fell upon noticing a missing member of the group.

“Do you know where your other little one is?”

He looked up at Mato, who looked away as he nodded, but Stag caught the sight of tears falling from his face. He spoke, his voice low and quiet.

“Oh dear. I offer my condolences.”

Mato looked back at him, face free of tears.

“Can you please take us to the city?”

Stag nodded, allowing the two to get onto his back before heading to the King’s Station.

Stag came to an abrupt stop as he pulled into the King’s Station. Mato and Sarid got off of the seats on his back, waving farewell to the beetle as they left the room.

_ A bit of running past infected bugs later _

Mato and Sarid walked over to the Hollow Knight’s memorial. Sarid’s gaze fell upon his sister’s mask, a blanket laying close by. Mato noticed the blanket and hummed in thought upon realizing that Crystal’s body had vanished from the last time he saw it.

“Sarid, do you know where your sister’s body might have went? Her mask is still here, so I don’t think something took it.”

Sarid thought about how his sister looked when she used Shade Soul and remembered that her mask disappeared during the time she used it. He looked at his dad and replied.

“I think she left her mask. Our masks are just that, masks. Maybe she went back to where we were thrown away to? Our siblings are there, so she might be staying with them for a bit.”

Mato frowned.

“Do you remember how to get back there?”

Sarid shrugged, noticing a familiar handle laying next to his sister’s mask. He reached over and picked it up, a glowing pale yellow blade appearing from it. He looked back to his dad.

“I think I could recognize it from the surroundings if we explore a bit.”

Mato nodded. He turned to his daughter’s mask.

“I hope you are where your brother says you are. I just want to see you grow up into a happy bug along with your brother.”

Sarid looked to his sister’s mask.

“If you are where we were thrown away, please stay there until we get there.” 


	63. Lost Siblings

_ Meanwhile in the Abyss _

Crystal looked around as the black ghosts of three of her siblings floated around her. One had two side horns on each side, pointing up. Another had a single horn in the middle of the top of their mask. The last one had horns that curved along the sides of their mask, with side horns in front of them, curving up. She heard her siblings speak, their voices appearing as thoughts in her head.

“Sibling?”

“Familiar.”

“Sibling.”

“Died here? No.”

“Escaped?”

“Can’t.”

“Must have.”

“Appeared here.”

“Mask not here.”

Crystal nodded. Her voice appeared in her siblings’ heads as they quieted so she could be heard.

“I didn’t die here. I escaped, but I’m not sure if I could get you all out in the way I escaped. I think my dad would adopt you, or if not him, his brothers and friends.”

She heard one of her siblings scream, their voice bouncing around inside her head, causing her to retreat into a misty black ball.

“No! Dad hurt us!”

She reformed as her sibling stopped screaming. She whimpered, a soft wail appearing in her siblings’ heads. She felt cold tendrils pat her as her sibling apologized. She explained.

“Sorry, I should have explained better. I don’t mean Pale Dad. I mean a different dad. He’s better and nicer. He says we’re perfect the way we are.”

She saw her siblings nod in understanding, so she continued.

“One of our siblings lives with him, along with me. One of his brothers is also taking care of one of our siblings.”

Her siblings nodded. She started to tell stories of her time with her adoptive dad and brother, leaving out the parts riddled with infection, death, and pain. She didn’t want them to think it was just as bad as here, if not worse, because it wasn’t. In her eyes, it was better and they deserved better.


	64. This Isn't Home Anymore

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Crystal finds someone in the Abyss. Mato and Sarid visit a place all too familiar to Sarid and his siblings.

Crystal looked around upon hearing an unfamiliar voice in her head. Her gaze fell upon one of her many siblings, face cloaked in a white mask, marred with shallow scratches and deep cracks in its surface. They had four horns on the top of their head, the outer two larger than the middle ones. On the sides of their head, they had four small triangular horns jutting out around the middle. They had four eyes, the ones above the two in the middle of their face were smaller. A long crack went through their lower right eye. She heard her sibling continuing to speak.

“Scared. Did wrong. Couldn’t hurt sibling. Imperfect. Flawed. Impure. Worthless.”

She tried to grab her sibling’s hands as they started hitting their own mask, cracking the already fragile mask more. Her tendril-like hands phased through her sibling’s hands, causing her sibling to look up at her. Her sibling started to cry, black tears leaving inky rivers behind on their mask.

“Why stop me? Deserve it. Can’t keep inside. Infection source.”

Crystal tried to hug her sibling. She ignored the fact that she couldn’t and instead started to speak.

“You didn’t deserve it. You did nothing wrong. You cared about our sibling and that makes you more of a bug than Pale Dad is.”

Her sibling tilted their head to the side as a question flowed through Crystal’s head.

“What’s dad? Pale Crown dad?”

Crystal internally frowned. She didn’t want to lie. Dad had told her lying was wrong. Crystal thought for a moment, considering her words carefully.

“A good dad is someone who cares about you. They protect you and love you for who you are. Pale Crown is not a good dad. I met a good dad outside and he’s much better than Pale Dad.”

Her sibling nodded.

She looked into their eye with the crack running through it. She hoped they weren’t blind in that eye, but couldn’t know unless she asked.

“Can you see out of your right eye?”

Her sibling covered their left eye. They couldn’t see anything out of their right eye, so they uncovered their left eye. They looked back at Crystal and shook their head. They lowered their head as the loss of the vision in their right eye sunk in. Crystal spoke.

“It’ll be okay, I promise. Do you want to come with me to live with my dad and my brother?”

Her sibling looked up at her, wiping black tears from their face. They spoke after nodding enthusiastically.

“Need name.”

Crystal nodded, thinking for a moment.

“What about… Andre?”

Her sibling thought for a moment before nodding. They hopped around Crystal a couple times as they spoke.

“Have a name! Name Andre!”

_ Meanwhile, nearby in the Ancient Basin _

Mato walked around while Sarid followed closely behind. Mato looked over his shoulder at his son.

“Do you remember which way the place is?”

Sarid nodded, rushing ahead of his dad.

“It’s this way!”

Mato frowned.

“After that long fall?”

Sarid looked back at him and nodded. He gasped as he watched his son jump off the ledge, disappearing from sight. He looked over the edge, careful not to fall.

He saw Sarid looking up at him, his wings in full view. He saw Sarid silently chuckle as he heard a thought in flow through his head.

“Dad, I’m going to leave you behind.”

Mato frowned.

“Sarid, don’t you  _ dare.” _

Sarid took a small step forward, glancing over his back at his dad.

“You better hurry. I’m walking away.”

Mato jumped down, scooping Sarid into his arms.

“You can’t get away now, you troublemaker!”

Sarid squirmed in his grip, a thought flowing through Mato’s head.

“I have been captured!”

He tickled Sarid as he held him in his arms. Sarid playfully swatted Mato’s hand away. Mato chuckled as he spoke.

“You shall be punished, you scoundrel!”

_ 10 minutes later _

Sarid silently panted in Mato’s arms. Mato looked at him and hmmed.

“I guess we should continue to our destination?”

Sarid nodded, wrapping his arms around his dad’s neck and resting his head on his shoulder. Mato heard a thought in his head.

“I’m going to take a nap. Can you please wake me when we get there?”

_ After a bit of walking around and being careful not to fall into spike pits _

Mato walked over to a door with a strange engraving on it. He gently woke Sarid. He started to speak once Sarid was awake and looking at him.

“Is this the place?”

Sarid looked around before nodding. He felt something cold run down his face. Mato’s brows furrowed in concern.

“Bad memories?”

Sarid nodded, wiping the tears from his face. A thought flowed through Mato’s head.

“I thought I’d be doing better than this. I thought I’d be fine revisiting this place.”

Mato hugged him close as he sat down on the ground. Sarid watched as Mato grabbed a dark rock from nearby and handed it to him. Mato led him through a deep-breathing exercise while Sarid gently moved his claws across the grooved surface of the rock in a smooth, slow glide.

After a while, they got up and headed closer to the door.

Mato noticed a dent in the junction of the door and the wall, allowing a small view into the Abyss. He threw himself against the door a couple times with loud  _ clangs, _ creating a small entrance into the Abyss.

He looked at Sarid.

“Are you ready to head inside?”

Sarid nodded, determination evident in his stance, as a thought flowed through Mato’s head.

“I’m as ready as I’ll ever be.”


	65. I Don't Know What the Future Holds (But It'll Be Okay, Because I'm With My Family)

Mato and Sarid walked into the Abyss, the cold sending shivers up their spines. Sarid stepped closer to his dad, the darkness of the Abyss causing a pit of dread to form in his stomach.

A few shades came over, visibly distressed and preparing to attack. One shade stopped the group, one that Sarid and Mato quickly recognized. Mato quickly felt a headache bloom behind his eyes as a garbled and ghostly thought flowed through his head. The thought cut off as Crystal quickly flew over, her worry and guilt evident on her face. The headache quickly faded, much to his relief. Mato tried to hug her, his arms phasing through her ghostly form.

Sarid looked at his sister.

“We’re happy to see you too.”

Mato looked over to him.

“You can understand what she’s saying?”

Sarid nodded, earning a smile from his dad. Mato looked back over to Crystal.

“I’ll be okay, Crystal.”

Crystal looked to Sarid while Mato mentally prepared himself. Mato ignored the headache starting to form. He could deal with it later. Sarid looked over to him before he heard a thought flow through his head.

“She said she found a sibling that’s really young. She’s going to ask him if he wants to go home with us, but only if that’s okay with you.”

Mato nodded, and looked at Crystal.

“That’s alright. What’s his name?”

After a moment of garbled speech inside Mato’s head, Sarid translated to his dad.

“She said his name’s Andre, and that she’s going to ask him now. She said he might be hiding.”

Mato nodded, leaving Crystal to find Andre.

Crystal floated around the Abyss, looking for her sibling. She thought to herself, starting to float around with greater urgency.  _ He couldn’t have fallen, could he? Please, I can’t lose another sibling. _

She found him in a little crevice in one of the platforms. He was trembling, black tears falling from his white face onto the ground with quiet  _ plops. _

She floated closer to him, careful not to alarm him. She spoke, her voice clear in his head.

“Do you want to come with my brother and me to my dad’s home? Not Pale Crown, but the better dad.”

Andre stood up, and hesitantly nodded. Crystal heard a thought flow through her head.

“Won’t throw away?”

Crystal shook her head.

“He won’t throw you away.”

Andre hesitantly nodded in understanding before following Crystal back to her dad. He took a couple steps closer to Mato before stopping and glancing over to Sarid, then Crystal. Sarid nodded.

“It’s okay.”

Andre took another step toward Mato before running full speed into his chest. Mato quickly looked over his child before hugging him. He felt Andre crying into his chest, and he carefully picked him up. He rubbed Andre’s back while he cried into the fluff around his neck.

_ A while later _

Mato carefully got up as he felt Andre’s breathing settle into one that he had felt many times when Sarid and Crystal fell asleep in his arms after a rough night. Sarid and Crystal quietly came over. Sarid said what both Crystal and him were thinking.

“You don’t have to go through this alone anymore.”

Mato looked over to his kids’ siblings.

“I think of all of you as my children. Do any of you want to come back to my house in the Howling Cliffs?”

The shades thought for a bit before they shook their heads. Mato heard garbled speech in his head, but ignored the headache in favor of listening to his children. Sarid looked at him and waited for his dad to look at him.

“They said they’ll visit sometime, Dad.”

Mato nodded after turning back to his children that were staying behind.

“Take care of yourselves, alright?”

The shades nodded. Mato, Crystal, and Sarid walked out of the Abyss, Andre fast asleep in Mato’s arms.


	66. The Search Begins

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Crystal gets her mask and reforms. The group starts to search for a sibling that may have escaped the Abyss.

Mato carried Andre out of the Ancient Basin, followed by Sarid and Crystal. Mato grimaced as a garbled thought flowed through his head, which wasn’t seen by any of his children, much to his relief. He heard Sarid speak, his son’s speech flowing through his head as if it were one of his own thoughts.

“She asked if we could stop by the memorial to get her mask.”

Mato looked over his shoulder and nodded, knowing how much his daughter needed her mask to be able to easily communicate with other bugs. Mato and his children talked as they walked towards the City of Tears.

A while later, they reached the area where the Ancient Basin connected to the City, the broken elevator laying nearby. Mato turned to Crystal and Sarid, who were standing nearby.

“Do you two think you’ll be able to climb up the wall yourselves?”

Crystal and Sarid exchanged glances before looking back to their dad. They nodded at roughly the same time. Mato smiled.

“Alright, you two help each other. I’ll meet you both at the top.”

Sarid and Crystal nodded before watching their dad start climbing up the wall. They quickly joined, carefully watching the other to make sure they didn’t get hurt.

Upon reaching the top of the wall, they jumped away and landed on the solid ground nearby. They looked over to see their dad sitting on the ground, Andre in his arms. They walked over and waited for their dad to get up. Mato got up and led his kids out of the cove in the city.

After a while, they reached the Hollow Knight’s memorial. Crystal gazed up at their statue’s imposing figure, striking a bit of familiarity into her as she realized their horns stayed roughly the same in the statue’s depiction of them as their look in real life. She floated over to her mask, not taking any longer than she needed to reform her body, the clothes she wore when she died appearing seamlessly onto her body.

She hopped up, running over to her dad and brother, who had watched her as she reformed her body. She hugged them both before taking Andre from Mato’s arms. The group made their way to the King’s Station, the Stag nowhere in sight.

Crystal walked over to the bell and gently tapped it with her index claw.

_ 3 minutes later _

Stag pulled into the stag station. He quickly noticed Crystal, a smile forming on his face as he greeted her. He wasn’t going to question how she was alive again due to the fact that he didn’t think he wanted to know. He allowed the group to get onto his back before taking them to Dirtmouth through the various stagways littered throughout Hallownest.

Mato, Sarid, and Crystal carefully, but quickly got off of Stag’s back before waving goodbye. Everyone heard a thought flow through their heads as Andre spoke, looking at Stag.

“You are family!”

Stag smiled, then looked at Mato and his children for confirmation. They all nodded.

Crystal remembered her sibling that she had left behind when she escaped the Abyss. She looked at Stag, a thought flowing through all the bugs’ heads.

“Have you seen a sibling of mine that has long, forked horns? They don’t have any horns on the sides of their masks. I didn’t see them in the Abyss, so I think they might have escaped.”

Stag thought for a moment before replying.

“I believe I met with a little one matching that description who wanted me to take them to the Queen’s Station.”

Crystal buzzed with excitement.  _ She was going to be able to meet that sibling! They were okay! She needed to apologize to them for leaving them behind. They didn’t deserve that. _ She turned to her dad. He nodded in confirmation that it was alright. She turned back to Stag.

“Can you please take us there?”

Stag nodded, allowing them to get onto his back once more.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> How did her clothes seamlessly appear on her body when she reformed? Magic


	67. Escape(ism)

_ Meanwhile, in Greenpath _

A small vessel darted out of the undergrowth, a slender, medium-length needle clutched in her hands. She ran past a couple mosscreeps as the shouting behind her got closer.

“Hey! Give that back! That’s one of my best sewing needles!”

She started to run faster, not wanting the red cloaked figure to catch up to her. She jumped down a narrow tunnel, hoping to lose the figure chasing her.

She noticed some sort of knight that seemed to be made out of leaves raise its nail. She sprinted and ducked under its legs, leaving the figure chasing her to fight it as she sprinted away.  _ Surely the needle was similar enough to her old nail that she could fight with it. She needed to protect herself wherever she went. _

She ran into a thorny section of Greenpath, known to her as her new home after she escaped the Abyss. She carefully made her way through the thorns, occasionally bouncing on strange flying bugs that hovered above the acid in spiky armor.

She noticed a small, quaint house, somewhat consumed by greenery, hidden among the thorns. She ran inside as she heard footsteps heading in her direction.

She darted under the table, quickly pulling the tablecloth over the side she was on. She trembled as she heard the footsteps come into the house, coming closer to her hiding spot. She darted out from under the table as someone straightened the tablecloth that concealed her from view. She heard a gruff, but excited voice.

“Ah! I didn’t realize I had a visitor! What’s your-”

The bug cut himself off as she realized she was shaking, black tears falling from her face like rain. She also noticed she was exhausted, all of her energy seeming to drain from her as it sunk in that the bug wouldn’t hurt her.

The bug handed her a tissue as he sat down. His voice was soft as he spoke to her.

“Are you alright, little one?”

She got up and ran over to the bug, burying her face in his paint-stained apron. She shook, tears rolling down her face as the bug gently patted her back. She heard the bug speak as she nodded off.

“It’s okay, little one. Let it all out.”


	68. Promises From a New Dad

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The new masked child from the last chapter gets a name and a new dad.

_ A while later… _

The small vessel awoke in one of the bug’s beds. She got up, and walked into the bug’s living room.

She was greeted by the sight of the bug, back turned to her as he cooked breakfast. She carefully walked over to the bug before tapping him on the arm. The bug turned to face her, a smile forming on his face.

“Good morning, little one! I hope it was okay that I put you in one of my beds as you slept.”

She nodded. She hesitantly telepathically spoke to the bug, hoping it would be safe to do so.

“Name?”

The bug answered after she pointed at him for emphasis.

“My name’s Sheo. What’s your name?”

She thought for a moment before responding. Sheo quickly split the breakfast onto two plates.

“Don’t know. Called ‘Vessel’. Siblings called too.”

Sheo thought for a moment.

“How about we think of a name for you? You shouldn’t be called ‘Vessel’ by others.”

She nodded. He thought for a moment.

“How about I give you three names, and you pick one, then we’ll go through some others?”

She nodded, allowing him to continue.

“Alright. Do you like any of the names in this list: Abby, Sally, or Rose?”

She excitedly nodded as she replied.

“Like Sally!”

Sheo nodded.

“Do you like any of the other names?”

She replied.

“Not as much.”

Sheo gave her a thumbs up.

“Do you want to try some other names?”

She shook her head.

“Sally.”

Sheo nodded before thinking for a bit.

“Sally, do you have anywhere to stay?”

Sally shook her head. They both sat at the table.

“Darkness. Escaped. Not going back.”

Sheo spoke, concern seeping into his voice.

“Sally, what’s the ‘Darkness’?”

Sally shivered.

“Darkness scary. Siblings. Ghosts. Didn’t deserve. Still siblings.”

Sheo got up and walked over to her. He gently hugged her.

“What do you mean by ‘Still siblings’?”

Sally started to cry.

“Wouldn’t wake. Wouldn’t move. Hurt bad. Masks cracked.”

Sheo quickly pieced together what she meant. He gently patted her back in a rhythm.

“It’s okay, Sally. Let it out. You don’t have to go back there. You can stay here.”

Sally hugged him, her tears falling onto his collar. She spoke, her voice appearing as a thought in Sheo’s head.

“Sheo dad?”

Sheo nodded.

“I can be your dad if you want.”

Sally nodded.

“Dad protect?”

Sheo nodded.

“I promise.”


	69. No Cost Too Great

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A new vessel oc has a bad time. I'm sorry, Gace.

_ Meanwhile in the Abyss _

A vessel with horns on his head that curved into a heart shape above his head crawled out of a spot where he was hiding. He grimaced as his left side horn caught on the wall for a moment. He let out a sigh.  _ Those people are gone. That one bug seemed nice, but I don’t know if I can trust him. I wish my sibling would have stayed though… _

He quickly propelled himself into the air with a quick flap of his wings. He quickly glided to a nearby platform and landed on it, rolling a small ways.

He looked around, quickly noticing an exit nearby. He quickly headed to the exit, happy to get out of the Abyss.  _ I’ll see my sibling again soon. _

He saw a great chasm in front of him. He carefully looked over the edge, noticing sharp spines at the bottom. He stepped back before running at the chasm. He jumped into the air and flapped his wings. He grabbed at the wall in front of him, but all he grabbed was air.

He flapped his wings faster, mentally screaming as he started to fall to the bottom of the chasm.

“No! Have to see sibling! Can’t die! Not yet!”

He mentally screamed as sharp pain flared to life in his wings. He panted as he carefully moved away from the spines.

He grimaced as he tried to flap his wings. His left wing could move, however his right wing barely moved. Pain shot through his wings as he tried to flap them. He looked to his right, then his left.  _ My wings! I won’t be able to fly! _

Black tears fell from his eyes as a thought flowed through his head.  _ I have to get out. No cost too great. That’s what dad always said. _


	70. I'm Sorry, but I Can't

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Gace has a bad time.

Gace grabbed ahold of his right wing and braced himself for what he was about to do. He closed his eyes before sharply pulling his right wing closer to him. He felt sick as he heard the wing membrane tear, severing the impaled part of his wing from him. He felt something cold roll down his face, causing him to open his eyes with a jolt.

He got up and walked away from the spikes before quickly scrubbing his face. He was relieved when he felt no cracks in his mask. Now that the more pressing issue was taken care of; he could focus on what was more important. He looked over to the wall nearest to him and dug his claws into it. He started to climb the wall, not daring to look over his shoulder at the spikes.

A while later, he pulled himself over the edge of the chasm with a final heave. He collapsed to the ground before noticing a nail nearby. He grabbed it; carefully digging it into the ground near him.

He pushed himself to his feet with a thrust of the nail. He pulled the nail out of the ground; careful not to fall back to the ground. He started to walk out of the Abyss and into the Ancient Basin.

He noticed bugs with orange eyes and grey bodies crawling along the walls and floors of the place. He attacked it with the nail he found before putting the nail into his void body. He dug his claws into the wall, quickly climbing up the wall. He pulled himself over the edge, nearly falling face first into another one of the black bugs.

He quickly pulled the nail out of his body and thrust it through the bug’s eye. Orange blood gushed out of the wound as he quickly pulled it away from the bug. He continued heading out of the Ancient Basin, refusing to stop and rest as his body screamed for relief.

A while of walking later, he stumbled into some sort of city. He recoiled slightly as something cold and wet fell onto his mask. He walked further into the rain upon realizing it wouldn’t hurt him.

His legs buckled underneath him, sending him towards the ground. It rushed to meet his mask; sending a shockwave of pain through it that left tears rolling down his face.

He went to move, but was cut short by a jolt of pain erupting all across his body. He felt something cold as ice pooling around him. His breathing accelerated as the stark realization hit him. He wasn’t going to see his brother that vanished ever again. Silent sobs fell on deaf ears; The beetles and flies around him were long gone due to the infection.

“I just want to see my sibling! Please! I can’t go yet! I have to see him again. I need to know he’s safe…”

His eyes started to close, his thoughts grinding to a halt as he slipped into unconsciousness.

“I can’t leave yet…”


End file.
